Life in Republic City
by blind-runaway
Summary: The Gaang and their stories of their lives living in Republic City. DISCLAIMER: I do not own A:tla or LoK, I am just borrowing the characters for this story. Please note that this is an uncompleted story, and is still being written now!
1. There's No Family in Vacation

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own ATLA or LoK.**

**According to Kya and Bumi in Legend Of Korra Book 2 Episode 3, the majority of the fandom's headcannons were far off. Apparently, Aang favorited Tenzin and were hardly ever there for Kya and Bumi. It really makes Aang's reputation anchor down. I really don't like how they did this, but if you think about it, It's actually kind of realistic. Aang was probably just trying to make Tenzin not be the serious kid and have fun like Aang did (when he wasn't fighting the firenation or anything) when Aang was a kid. I can only imagine how happy Aang was when they found out Tenzin was an airbender.**

**"What about the time when we went to Kyoshi Island and rode the Elephant Koi?" - Tenzin**

**"Nope." Kya responded, "We weren't there."**

**"Or what about the time on Ember Island when we built those great sand castles!?" Tenzin asked.**

**"You mean that ****_you _****built!" Bumi yelled, "We never saw the place!"**

**So, obviously Aang left Kya and Bumi (and most likely Katara, because who else would watch over Kya and Bumi while Aang and Tenzin were gone if Katara tagged along with them?) behind, most of the time, when they went on "family" vacations.**

**"Maybe I'll tag along just to see ****_Vacation Tenzin._****" Bumi said (Book 2 Episode 1) So maybe Aang never brought Kya and Bumi with them when they went out on a vacation. Maybe it was always a Father-and-youngest-son thing.**

**"I'm dying to see that laid back ****_Vacation Tenzin _****I've heard so much about." Kya said (Book 2 Episode 1) **

**So there you have it. From those few lines, It ****_seems_**** like Kya and Bumi (and probably Katara, as stated above too) were ****_always _****left out when Aang and Tenzin went on vacation.**

**Maybe it was just so long ago that they don't know what ****_Vacation Tenzin _****was like. I mean it's not like Tenzin was as serious as a kid as he is now. There's always that too.**

**Anyway, getting on with the story...**

**Bumi is 14, Kya is 11, and Tenzin is 9. I don't know what their age differences really are, but it was officially confirmed that Bumi is the oldest, not Kya, even though in my opinion, Kya looks like she could be the oldest.**

* * *

**Chapter 1 - There's No Family In Vacation**

* * *

It was a quiet summer Friday evening. There was not much going on, especially in the house that sat on a small island just a boat ride away from Republic City. Aang, a father of three, had just gotten home from a long day at work. He took his cloak off, hung it up on the rack, and joined his youngest son at the dining table.

"Where's your sister?" Aang asked.

"Mom said she was in her room, asleep." Tenzin said, "Then Mom and Bumi went out to the market."

Aang folded his hands on the surface of the table and continued, "Good, because I was planning on taking you out somewhere."

"What do you mean, Dad?" Tenzin asked.

"Just a vacation." Aang said, "And it'll just be you and me."

_But what about Kya and Bumi? _The young boy thought to himself, _What if they get jealous? _

Despite his thoughts, Tenzin smiled. Once he thought about not bringing his older siblings along, it made him feel better about going. He knew that half of the time would be spend getting teased by his older siblings... That's what they always did to him.

"No Kya? No Bumi?" Tenzin asked, "No mom?"

"Nope." Aang said with a smile, "Just you, and me."

"But wont mom get mad?" Tenzin asked, "And then what if she doesn't let us go? Then what do we do?"

"Why don't we just tell her that we're going on a ride on Appa?" Aang suggested, "Say we'll be back in a couple of days."

"Okay..." Tenzin said, "But where are _really_ going?"

"Kyoshi Island." Aang said.

"Kyoshi Island?" Tenzin asked

"Yep." Aang said, "And when we get there, we'll ride the Elephant Koi!"

"The Elephant Koi?!" Tenzin asked, "Isn't that dangerous?"

_Not unless the Unagi comes out and tries to eat us... _Aang thought.

"No, not at all." Aang said.

The doorway from the kitchen to the hallway was wide. There was plenty of wall to hide behind if someone wanted to eavesdrop on a conversation going on in the kitchen. And that's where the Avatar's daughter stood, as she listened in on the plan between her father and Tenzin, and only her father and Tenzin.

The two at the table still thought she was sound asleep in her bedroom. But the truth is she woke up as soon as she heard the front door open. The girl is a super light sleeper. She didn't want to run out and hug him and greet at the door. Her plan was to hide in the doorway of the kitchen and jump out and scare both him and Tenzin.

But when she heard him sit down at the table, start talking to Tenzin, and had his back turned to the doorway, she decided to be nosy and sneaky. The words vacation, you and me, and Kyoshi Island made her felt betrayed.

_How could he only take Tenzin on a vacation and completely forget about the rest of us?!_ She thought.

When her younger brother asked about bringing Kya and Bumi along, his idea was turned down. Turned down by their own father, like throwing away just some other two pieces of trash. A rush of anger, sadness, and being alone raced through her body. She just wanted to step out and whack her father in the face with a recent water bending move she just learned, called The Water Whip.

But she gained self control and didn't. The only thing she couldn't control was her tears. Each time a tear would roll down her cheeks, she would turn them into a small mist, using her water bending, to hide them. How could her father hurt her so much by leaving more than half of their family out on this "Special vacation" they were going on? Weren't families supposed to go on vacations together? Vacations don't work when you pick a favorite child and go to a whole other continent with them, and have what sounds like the time of your life together!

By now, tears were rushing down her face violently, and more then she wanted. A couple tears here and there were bearable, but it was hard to hold in all of the tears that were spilling out now. She stood up by pressing her back against the wall for support, ran on her toes down the hall, flopped onto her bed once she entered her room, shoved her face into her pillows, and continued to cry.

She never saw Aang as the kind of father that would leave not only one kid, but two kids out, while he spent so much time with the third kid. They would be out having so much fun, while Kya and Bumi would be stuck here doing chores and all of that boring stuff. The only quality time she spent with her dad was when he practiced water bending with her. And he only practiced with her before any meals (if he was home for them), or if Katara was doing something urgent, like cleaning, during the time when they were supposed to be out practicing in the courtyard.

She heard the front door open, and Katara and Bumi entered the house. She water bended her tears from her pillow and her eyes and turned it into mist. She walked down the hallway and into the dining room. She joined her father and brother at the table.

"So, what are you guys talking about?" Kya asked, sitting next to her father.

_What do I say? _Tenzin thought to himself.

"Uh..." Tenzin said, "I don't know... Stuff?"

_Oh Tenzin, you're great at hiding things... _Kya thought sarcastically.

Aang smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"What?" Tenzin mouthed to Aang.

Kya eyed them both suspiciously, "What's going on?"

Katara walked in with a bag full of groceries. She set them on the counter and began to put some of the groceries away in the pantry.

"What do you mean?" Tenzin asked.

"Both of you are acting..." Kya paused to think of the appropriate word to say, "Suspicious..."

"Suspicious?" Tenzin asked nervously.

"Okay." Kya said quickly, "What is it that you're hiding?"

"We're not - I mean, I'm not hiding anything." Tenzin said, looking scared.

Katara turned around, and watched them. Tenzin did seem a little... off in her eyes. And just like Kya, she was beginning to seem a little suspicious about the two air benders sitting at the table.

"What's going on?" Katara asked.

"I don't know!" Kya said, "Tenzin's acting all weird..."

"I am not!" He shouted back.

"Yes you are!" Kya shouted, "I was just asking you what you two were talking about, and you started acting all weird and suspicious!"

"Please stop fighting, before you make my ears bleed!" Aang shouted.

Tenzin crossed his arms over his chest.

Then Bumi walked in, asking, "What's all the screaming and shouting about?"

"Tenzin is just acting weird." Kya said.

"No I'm not!" Tenzin shouted.

"Yeah, you are." Bumi said, laughing.

Bumi walked over to Tenzin's chair, put him in a head lock, and rubbed his fist back and forth on Tenzin's head.

"What is making you get so worked up?" Bumi asked, letting go of Tenzin.

"Bumi, was that necessary?" Katara asked.

"Is it necessary that Tenzin has to act so suspicious when we ask him a simple question?" Kya asked.

"What!?" Tenzin shouted.

"Honestly, little brother, just give up already." Bumi said, sitting down in the chair next to Tenzin.

"Kya, I wasn't even talking to you, and you still talked back to me." Katara said. The words came out kind of sharply, but she didn't mean it to sound so mean.

"Sorry..." Kya said, smiling nervously.

About 10 minutes later, Bumi, Kya, and poor Tenzin will still arguing about Tenzin being so suspicious.

"Will you two just let it go?!" Tenzin argued, "I'm not hiding anything!"

"We honestly don't care anymore." Bumi said, "We just love getting you ticked off."

"It's funny." Kya agreed.

"No it's not!" Tenzin said, "I'm leaving!"

"Just like any other air bender would!" Bumi shouted as he turned the corner, "Just run away from the problem!"

"Alright, that's enough you two." Katara said forcefully.

Bumi couldn't help but chuckle.

"That wasn't funny!" Katara said, "Now go get your brother and apologize."

"No." Kya said sharply.

"Excuse me?" Katara said.

"I'm not going to apologize." Kya said, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Okay." Aang interrupted, "Let's just stop arguing and eat dinner."

"I'm not hungry anyway." Kya said, as she stood up and left the kitchen.

Aang stared down at his hands. He didn't know what to do. Maybe he should go talk to them? But, he figured they wanted to be alone.

Bumi sat in silence, his eyes darting back and forth between his two parents. Katara looked both upset and furious. Aang just looked confused, like he wasn't sure what he should do. How longer did he have to sit here while an awkward silence lingered in the room. He had to move fast, or make up some lame excuse to leave from the table. Or he should just leave, and go to his room like his two younger siblings did.

"Yeah... Uh..." Bumi said slowly, "I'm just gonna go..."

Aang and Katara stared at him as he dashed out of the kitchen.

* * *

Kya tip toed out of her room, and down the hall. She was looking for Bumi to explain to him what was going, why she was so mad. And she still was mad. She couldn't wait to vent to someone who would understand. She couldn't tell her mom, she wanted to prevent her parents from arguing, all three of them hated when they argued. She couldn't go to Tenzin, he would just run straight to dad, and she was mad at Tenzin anyway. And she wouldn't go to dad, because he doesn't know that she knows that Aang's bringing Tenzin on a fun vacation and leaving the rest of his family behind. Oh, and Tenzin doesn't know that Kya knows, too.

"Bumi, you in here?" Kya asked, knocking on his bedroom door.

"Yeah..." He said, "What do you want?"

"I want to talk to you." Kya said, "Actually, I need to."

Kya shut the door behind her, as she walked into his room casually. She sat down on his bed and began to explain the reason she was so pissed off.

"Okay, first of all you can not, I mean CAN NOT tell mom, or mention this to anyone else," She said sharply.

"I promise. I wont!" Bumi said, "Go on."

"So, I was listening in on Dad and Tenzin's conversation earlier." Kya said, "Turns out dad was planning to take a vacation."

"Vacation?" Bumi said, sitting up, "To where?! We never go on vacation! I can't believe it!"

"I'm not finished." Kya said, rolling her eyes at her brother.

"Right. Sorry." He said, grinning.

"Okay, so anyway." She continued, "He planned to go on a vacation. But with Tenzin. And only Tenzin."

"What?!" Bumi shouted, "That's not fair!"

"I know." Kya pouted.

"Why would he take Tenzin, and leave us out?" Bumi asked.

"Because Tenzin's the youngest. The youngest is always the favorite child." Kya said, "And all Dad does is spoil Tenzin because he's _daddy's-precious-little-air-bender._"

Bumi stared at the ground, "When are they leaving? And where are they going?"

"I don't know." Kya said, "But they're going to Kyoshi Island. To ride Elephant Koi."

"Elephant Koi!?" Bumi exclaimed, "We all know mom would never let us do that!"

"Exactly." Kya said, "So that just proves that Tenzin is the favorite."

* * *

"Katara, I need to talk to you." Aang said.

"About what?" She asked.

"Tomorrow morning, I'm taking Tenzin out for a ride on Appa." Aang said, "We're going to be gone for at least a week or so, but-"

"A week?" Katara asked.

"Well if the kid is going to own a sky bison one day, shouldn't I teach him how to ride one, and guide one?" Aang said.

"I guess so..." Katara said, "But why would you go for a week?"

"I was also thinking about showing him around the southern air temple." Aang said.

"What about Kya and Bumi?" Katara suggested, "Don't you think they should come, too?"

"They're not there to learn how to ride and guide sky bison. It'd be pretty boring for them, don't you think?" Aang asked.

"Don't you think that they'll get jealous that you didn't bring them with you?" Katara asked.

She seemed mad. It was almost like she wanted to start an argument.

"They shouldn't..." Aang said, "Since it's part of the air bending culture, and they're not air benders."

"They might still want to see the temple, despite being and air bender or not." Katara said.

"Look Katara, I'm no longer the last air bender anymore." Aang continued, "I want to teach him as much as I can about my culture before anything happens to me."

Katara opened her mouth to say something, when something stopped her. She looked in the doorway, and there stood Kya. She looked mad, like something was bothering her. Because there was something bothering her. Not only was she mad about how her father and younger brother were going on a vacation to ride elephant koi all day while Kya and Bumi would be stuck here, but her father just lied to her mother. And her mother believed his lies. And it was so easy to tell he was lying, but Katara was no Toph. So, she completely believe him.

"Kya, it's late." Katara said, "You should be in bed."

Kya didn't move.

"Kya, are you alright?" Aang asked, getting up and walking over to the door way.

She took one look at him, and walked away. She opened up the front door, ran out into the courtyard, crying.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	2. The Truth

**"While you got to fly around with dad and ride Elephant Koi all day!" Bumi shouted.**

**"Oh so that's what this is about?" Tenzin argued.**

**"That's what it's ****_always _****been about!" Kya argued back.**

**(Legend of Korra book 2 episode 3)**

**So, they've always been jealous about Tenzin and Aang's vacations without the rest of the family. This is my head cannon.**

* * *

**Chapter 2 - The Truth**

* * *

"Kya, sweetie." Katara said, sitting down on the young girl's bed, "Please talk to me."

Kya stared at the wall of her bedroom, as she laid on her side in bed.

"Kya, for the past 10 days you haven't said one word to me." Katara said, "And you haven't come out of your bedroom this whole time."

Well, that wasn't completely true. Kya had left her room to eat, shower, use the bathroom whenever she needed to, and to practice water bending. But she hadn't talked because she was so mad towards her father and younger brother. But luckily for Katara and Bumi's sake, she didn't take her anger out on them. She took her anger out when she would practice her water bending, which was only once a day, instead of three times, or even more than three times, a day whenever she'd practice with Katara, and rarely with her father.

"Do you want me to talk?" Kya mumbled.

Katara's heart sped up. She had almost forgotten the sound of her own daughter's voice, which was pretty sad, but true. And her daughter had finally spoken, after 10 long days.

"Yes, please." Katara said.

If she kept "ignoring" Katara, Katara would have just broke down in tears right in front of her. She really wasn't ignoring Katara, she just wouldn't talk. She was mostly afraid that something would come out that she wouldn't want to come out. Such as, screaming terrible words out describing her anger towards her father, accidentally breaking down in tears, or accidentally telling Katara all about how her father wasn't really going to the Southern Air Temple to teach Tenzin about the air bending culture.

Kya pushed herself up, and swung her feet over the bed, so that she was sitting right next to her mother.

"First of all, dad lied to you." Kya started.

"What?!" Katara exclaimed.

"He took Tenzin to Kyoshi Island to ride the Elephant Koi all day." Kya said.

"Why would he lie about that?" Katara asked.

"Because he knew that you'd never let that happen." Kya said, "And he knew that Bumi and I would get jealous if he told us."

"That's why you wouldn't talk..." Katara said softly, "Because you were angry at dad."

_Thanks Captain Obvious! _Kya thought.

"I still am." She said sharply, she jumped off the bed, and turned to face Katara, "You know how it feels for me and Bumi? We got completely left out, while Tenzin and Dad go off to a whole other continent to have fun all day and ride some stupid Elephant Koi!"

Katara sat on the bed, watching her daughter rant on and on.

"Do you remember when we all found out Tenzin was an airbender?" Kya shouted.

Katara nodded, she was afraid to speak. They all remembered that moment, like it just happened yesterday.

* * *

_Tenzin, at age 1, was already speeding around the house on his precious little feet. He was great at walking, and he was really good at keeping balance. Whenever he would fall, he would just laugh it off and stand right back up. _

_One evening, Toph and her newborn daughter, Lin, and Sokka were invited over for dinner. They were all gathered in the living room, while Katara was busy making dinner, and watching Tenzin in awe. Toph placed a foot on the ground, to make sure she wasn't in the way of the kid's tracks. Then she realized that she could hardly feel his footsteps._

_'Somebody's a little light on his feet.' She thought._

_And then it hit her. Tenzin was an air bender. Aang was no longer the last air bender._

_It was hard to hide her excitement, so she pulled Sokka aside to talk to him._

_"What's up, Toph?" He asked._

_"I think- Actually, I know, that Tenzin is an air bender." Toph said._

_"That's great!" Sokka exclaimed._

_"Shush!" Toph said, nudging him in the gut, "Aang doesn't know! We should surprise him."_

_"How will we do that?" Sokka asked._

_"We need him to sneeze." Toph said, "So that when he does, he'll go flying into the air."_

_"Maybe we can put pepper in his food!" Sokka exclaimed in a whisper._

_"But, the thing is, he gets strapped into his seat. It wont be obvious if we do it at dinner." Toph said._

_"Then what do we do?" Sokka asked._

_"That's the thing..." Toph said, "I don't know."_

_When they returned, ashamed that they couldn't come up with any ideas to make the kid sneeze. But luckily for them, shortly after they returned, he did sneeze._

_"Did you see that?!" Bumi exclaimed, "He just sneezed and flew like a thousand feet in the air!"_

_Aang just sat there, his mouth open in shock and amazement._

* * *

"I remember." Katara finally spoke._  
_

"I hated him from that moment on!" Kya screamed.

"You can't hate your brother because he's an air bender." Katara said, "Why would you say something so awful as that?"

"I guess you haven't realized it." Kya said, lowering her voice, "Bumi and I have realized it, I'm actually shocked you haven't by now."

"Realized what?" Katara asked, standing up.

"That dad always has so much free time for Tenzin!" Kya yelled, raising her voice again, "But whenever me or Bumi ask to do something with him, he always makes up some excuse like..." She made her voice lower, in attempt to mock her father's tone, "'Sorry sweetie, but I had a long day at work and I'm exhausted.' Or, 'Not right now, maybe later.'"

"Your dad has a responsibility to the city, Kya." Katara said, "He's busy fixing problems all over the world. He doesn't always have time for fun and games."

"Doesn't have time for fun and games, huh?" Kya said, in a mocking tone, "Then that explains why he's out at Kyoshi Island with Tenzin, riding Elephant Koi all day, while both of them have the time of their lives!"

"They're probably on their way home." Katara said, "They said they'd be back by tonight."

"But you're completely ignoring my argument!" Kya complained.

"I'm not ignoring you." Katara said.

"Then answer me." Kya demanded.

"I know your father lied about taking Tenzin to the air temples... But-"

"No mom." Kya interrupted, "He lied to YOU! He didn't even bother to tell us that he was leaving with his favorite kid, because he knew that we would get upset."

"Tenzin isn't your father's 'favorite'." Katara argued, "He loves you all equally."

"You're taking his side?!" Kya shouted.

"I'm not taking anyone's side!" Katara said.

"You should be mad at dad!" Kya shouted.

"Just because you're mad at your father doesn't mean I should be too." Katara said.

"But mom!" Kya complained, "He lied to you, and made both Bumi and I completely upset."

Katara opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Do you realize how betrayed I felt when I first found out!?" Kya said, "You have no idea!"

"I'll talk to him when he gets home tonight." Katara said softly, almost like she was going to cry.

But why?

Kya sighed with relief, "Thanks mom."

"Get dressed, breakfast will be ready soon." Katara said, before she left Kya's room.

She shut her daughter's door behind her, and started to walk down the hall, when a tear escaped from her stinging eyes.

* * *

"Hi mom." Bumi greeted her in the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" She said, placing her hands on her hips.

Bumi flinched. She used the voice that she uses whenever she catches her kids doing something bad. But Bumi hadn't done anything bad in the past two weeks, so why was she so angry? And if she placed her hands on her hips while using that same tone, you were in big trouble.

"I was just making breakfast." Bumi said, "I didn't know where you were, and I was hungry. Jeez, I thought I'd be doing you a favor by making breakfast this morning."

"Why do you sound so scared?" She asked with a chuckle.

"You seemed mad. Like I was committing some crime by doing a favor." Bumi said.

"No, I'm not mad." Katara said, "Actually, thank you, because I really don't feel like cooking right now."

Bumi wondered how often she didn't feel like cooking, but felt like she had to, because no one else cooked in this house. A minute of silence passed, and Bumi didn't know what to say, or if to say anything. He felt awkward, even though he was just in front of his own mother.

_Just make small talk. Say something. Quick. _Bumi thought.

"So..." Bumi said, "The weather..."

_The weather? Way to go Bumi... _He mentally slapped himself upside the head.

Katara eyed him suspiciously, "What?"

He just started laughing, "I don't know... I was just trying to make small talk."

"Well good morning is usually a better start." Katara said with a smile.

"Good morning, mom." Bumi said.

"Good morning, Bumi." She said back to him, rolling her eyes slightly.

"What?" He asked in defense.

"Nothing..." Katara said with a chuckle, "You're just strange."

"Strange." He repeated, sighing. His tone changed to sadness.

"No, honey." Katara said quickly, "Not the way you're thinking of it! I mean it in a good way."

"What?" He asked.

"I mean that you're hyper, funny, and really energenic all the time." Katara said, "You're not all serious like your little brother, or bossy like your sister."

"Finally!" Bumi exclaimed, "You finally agree with me when I say she's bossy."

Katara pointed a finger at him, "Do not, and I mean do not, tell her or anyone that I said that. And do not use it against her!" She demanded harshly.

"Yes ma'am." He said with a grin.

"What my big point is that you inherited a lot from your uncle." Katara said, "You both can be silly and funny most of the time, but you both are very creative and smart."

"And we both are nonbenders!" Bumi added quickly, "That's pretty important."

"Not being a bender isn't something you should be ashamed of." Katara said, "You may feel underpowered around other people who can bend, but you can't think like that. You and your uncle are both very useful when it comes to certain things."

"Why are you saying all of this?" Bumi asked.

"Because it's true." Katara said with a smile.

He gave her a goofy smile in return. She never realized until now, how much his goofy little smile reminded her of Aang when he was Bumi's age. And she mentioned that out loud to him after she realized it.

"I figured you were going to mention how he's exactly like Tenzin." Bumi said, "Y'know because they're both air benders, and practically look exactly the same,except that Tenzin doesn't have those blue tattoos." Bumi sounded a little mad when he mentioned Tenzin's name.

"I know that you're pretty angry at your father and brother right now." Katara said.

"You think?" He said sarcastically.

"Hey, don't get all smart-mouthy with me." She demanded.

"Sorry." Bumi said, "But you're right."

"I know, it wasn't fair of him to betray you two like that. You're his kids , too." She added, "I'll talk to him whenever he gets home."

"If he gets home." Bumi agreed.

* * *

Hours had past since breakfast. Bumi had made a delicious batch of pancakes for the three of them to enjoy for the first meal of the day. After breakfast, Katara had poured herself a cup of tea, and went to go read in her and Aang's bedroom. Bumi and Kya however, talked for a long time. They bonded together, and Bumi had comforted Kya when she broke out in tears talking about Tenzin and Aang. Kya never knew her brother could be so sympathetic. He really was beginning to mature, and she didn't know that was possible for someone like him.

After about 2 hours just chatting back and forth, and even shedding tears, they came up with a plan. They figured that their mother was really stressed out and that she probably wanted the house to herself, since that rarely ever happened. And they honestly didn't want to be there when Aang and Tenzin came back and Katara and Aang would get in a huge argument. They didn't even deny the fact that their parents would fight after Aang got back. They both knew and thought it would happen.

"I'll go ask her." Bumi said.

"Okay." Kya said with a nod, "I'll be waiting in here.

He nodded back, and zipped down the hall. He knocked softly on his parents' bedroom door.

"Mom?" He asked, "Can I come in?"

Katara shut her book, and placed it on the nightstand.

"Yeah." She said.

Bumi slowly walked in, and shut the door behind him. Katara sat up.

"What's up?" She asked.

"Well, Kya and I have been talking." He started.

She gave him a look that said continue. So he did.

"Well... we figured you probably want the house to yourself. And Kya and I wanted to go into the city anyway." Bumi said, "We were wondering if we could go to Uncle Sokka's house over in the city, and maybe sleep over."

"You two aren't going alone." Katara said.

"But don't you want the house to yourself?" He asked.

"Of course, just for the time you're at your Uncle's." She said, "But, I'm going to drop you two off. There is no way I'm going to let my 14 year old son and my 11 year old daughter wander around the huge city on their own."

He smiled, "Thanks mom."

"Of course, honey." She said, returning the smile, "You should start packing if you want to head out."

"Okay." He said, and left the room.

* * *

"Uncle Sokka!" Bumi exclaimed, as he pulled him into a hug.

"Hey, buddy!" Sokka said, hugging him back, "What are you three doing here?"

"Do you mind if they spend the night?" Katara asked, "I'm sorry that this is kind of out of no where..."

He didn't want to ask. He figured that her and Aang wanted the kids out to have some "alone time". But then he remembered that Tenzin wasn't there with them. He found that to be a little strange.

"Sure." He said, "Come on in."

Kya and Bumi raced into the house, and threw their stuff on the couch. Katara and Sokka stayed at the doorway.

"Are you sure you're fine with them staying the night?" Katara asked.

"Yes, Katara." He said, "I figured you wanted them out of the house."

She rolled her eyes at him, because she knew exactly what he was thinking.

"I should get going." Katara said.

"Uh... Have fun... I guess." Sokka said.

She rolled her eyes at him once again, and started to walk down the steps of the porch.

"So, where's Tenzin?" Sokka asked.

"Oh boy. Don't even get me started." Kya said, "Dad and the favorite one are out on a special vacation."

"The favorite one?" Sokka asked with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah." Bumi chimed in, "Tenzin's the favorite child. He's the youngest and all."

"Dad and him took a vacation, just the two of them, to Kyoshi Island to ride the Elephant Koi." Kya said.

"Wow." Sokka said, "And Aang - I mean your father - didn't even take you two?"

"He didn't even mention it to us." Bumi said.

"Oh, and let's not forget how he made up some stupid lie to our mom saying that he was going to show Tenzin the Southern Air Temple and talk about the air benders and their culture." Kya said.

_Wow, she sounded exactly like her mother,_ Sokka thought.

"That's actually a pretty good lie..." Sokka said, "Sounds pretty legitimate and believable. Your mom believed it right?"

"Yeah, she did." Bumi said.

"And I was the one who had to mentally slap her across the face and make her realize that it was a big fat lie!" Kya added.

"Oh jeez..." Sokka sighed.

"And to be honest," Bumi added, "Another reason we came her tonight is because we knew dad and Tenzin were coming back, and we knew that our mom would be up all night waiting for them. And when they got back they'd get into this big argument. And we didn't want to hear it."

"I hate it when they argue." Kya said, crossing her arms.

"Me too." Bumi agreed.

"Me three." Sokka agreed.

"They argue in front of you?" Bumi asked.

"You seem so shocked about it..." Sokka said.

"Well yeah..." Kya said, "They don't really argue anywhere outside of the house."

"Yeah, because you didn't know them before they had you two." Sokka said.

"Oh..." Bumi said.

"I mean they never got into serious arguments." Sokka continued, "Not anything really bad. I just always hated when they argued because they are the perfect couple. They always seemed like the couple that would be together forever, no matter what."

"They are." Bumi agreed.

Kya nodded, "But lately... I think my mom has been doubting that." She sighed.

Sokka reached out and squeezed Kya's shoulder.

"Don't worry kiddo." Sokka said, "Even if they do get in a really big argument, they'll get out of it. They always do."

"Are you serious?" Bumi asked.

"Well of course I am!" Sokka said with a smile, "I mean they're still together as of today."

"As of tonight." Kya said.

"I'll tell you what." Sokka said, "I'll take you two out around the big city. Maybe do some shopping, or even just look around. And when we get back, we'll have ice cream for dinner with all kinds of junk food."

"Yeah!" Kya and Bumi exclaimed.

* * *

Katara, Kya, and Bumi were right. Aang and Tenzin did arrive home that night. It was very late. In fact, it was the middle of the night. Tenzin hopped off of Appa, and Aang jumped into the saddle to unpack their belongings.

When they had finished, Aang had really hoped that the lights were out in the house, and that everyone was asleep. But as he got closer to the house, he realized that almost every single light was still on. He was disappointed when he realized it. He figured his kids were up waiting for him, and he didn't want that to happen.

When he opened the door, he suspected one of the three kids, most likely Bumi, to pop out and scream 'surprise!'. But Aang was shocked when that didn't happen. Aand walked into the kitchen, and his heart nearly stopped when he saw Katara standing in the doorway, with her hand on her hip, and her face expressed that se was exhausted and furious.

_This can't be good. _He thought.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	3. In a Place we Call Home

**Whenever there's something in bold before I continue on with the chapter, it means this is an author's note. This chapter contains a small breaking point in the Kataang relationship.** **Hopefully they'll get through it. They always do according to Sokka. (The Sokka in my head cannon, of course.)**

**A lot of drama going on at Air Temple Island between the Kataang family. **

* * *

**Chapter 3 - In A Place We Call Home**

* * *

Kya woke up the next morning, crammed in the guest room's bed. She ended up only having about 6 inches of space, since Bumi hogged up more than half of the bed. She had to throw his arm and leg off of her body just to sit up. And not only did he hog the bed, but he hogged the covers.

Kya was a little disappointed when she saw it was morning. Bumi and her had so much fun with their uncle last night, that they never wanted to leave.

Last night, when they were finished shopping, they got home at two hours past midnight. None of them were even tired. They got home, put their bags of purchased items by the doorway beside their shoes, and darted for the table. Sokka found it funny how they were so eager to get home and have ice cream at two hours past midnight. Then again, he remembered that Katara and Aang would never let them do this. Maybe Aang would behind Katara's back, but even then, it was a small chance that he would allow that.

_"Okay you two." Sokka started, "Do not tell your mom or dad I let you guys have ice cream past midnight. If you do, it's game over for all of us."_

_"We promise." Kya said smiling._

_Sokka followed them into the kitchen, and got out the ice cream._

_"Can we have all sorts of toppings?" Bumi asked excitedly._

_"Well wait." Kya said, putting a hand up gesturing for everyone to stop, as if she controlled everyone in the room, "What toppings do you have?"_

_"Whipped cream, hot fudge, chocolate syrup, some candy, sprinkles..." Sokka said off the top of his head, "All sorts of stuff."_

_"Sweet." Kya said._

_"I'll take all of them to go with my ice cream." Bumi said with his goofy smile._

_Sokka laughed. He might as well let them go crazy tonight since he didn't know whenever they'd be able to do this again. _

_Then after all of the ice cream they had, the three of them finally went to bed at 4 past midnight._

"Bumi!" Kya whispered, shaking him awake, "Wake up!"

"Huh?" He muttered in a half-asleep voice.

"Wake up!" She repeated, "Mom is going to be here soon to pick us up!"

"No she's not." He denied. He was still in the half-asleep phase, and whenever he was, he would say no to anything and shove everyone away to get a complete sleep.

"Yes she is!" Kya said, raising her voice into its normal tone, "Get up!"

She slapped him across the face.

"Alright, dang," He exclaimed, his voice cracked, "I'm up."

* * *

Last night for Katara and Aang was pretty tough. Aang was right, Katara had waited hours and hours for him to get home. And when he finally arrived, she was ready to beat him up with words.

_"Tenzin, go to your room." Katara said, "Your father and I need to talk."_

_Tenzin nodded and rushed off to his room._

_"What do you mean 'we have to talk'?" Aang asked._

_"Just a trip down to the Southern Air Temple?" Katara asked._

_He eyed her suspiciously._

_"Is that why Kya had told me that you and Tenzin were going on a trip down to Kyoshi Island to ride the Elephant Koi?" Katara argued._

_"Where did she get that from?" He asked._

_"She overheard you talking to Tenzin about it." Katara said._

_He sighed._

_"So, is it true?" Katara asked._

_He sighed once again, "Yes, it's true."_

_"And you thought you got away with lying to me..." Katara said._

_"I almost did." Aang agreed._

_Katara scoffed, "I can not believe that I believed what you told me."_

_"I can't either." Aang said, "Honestly."_

_"But my question is why?" Katara asked._

_Aang shrugged, "This isn't the time for questions right now, Katara, I'm exhausted."_

_"Sorry, I didn't think riding Elephant Koi all day could be so tiring." Katara said coldly, "You think you're tired? I've been waiting up all night for you."_

_"What?" Aang said, "So you could rip me apart mentally?"_

_Katara didn't answer. She just crossed her arms below her chest._

_Aang shot her a look of disappointment. _

_"Katara, please." He said, "I'm begging you. Don't do this."_

_"Do what?" Katara shouted._

_"Rip my heart out and stomp on it right in front of me." Aang said._

_"Are you trying to make me feel sorry for you?" Katara argued, "Are you trying to make it seem like it was all my fault that YOU decided to lie to me? Are you trying to make it seem like it was all my fault that YOU wanted to take only our youngest son, and no one else, on some super fun vacation, while you leave the rest of your family behind like you totally forgot about them?"_

_"No, I'm not." Aang said, "It's just-"_

_"Just what?" Katara shouted._

_"Good lord woman, will you just let me talk!?" Aang yelled._

_"I'm waiting for an explanation!" Katara said, putting both hands on her hips. _

_"I just wanted him to have fun, Katara." Aang said._

_"And you couldn't let your other two kids have fun along with him?" Katara asked._

_"I wasn't finished." He said, his temper growing shorter._

_"Okay, fine." She said, "Continue."_

_"I just don't want Tenzin to be so serious all of the time." Aang said, "I wanted him to have the same childhood I had, except that he doesn't have to fight the fire nation, and restore balance to the world. Admit it, we all had fun when we weren't busy fighting off rebels, or anyone from the fire nation."_

_Katara didn't say anything. She just kept her eyes locked on Aang._

_"I also wanted to teach him about the air benders and our culture." Aang said, "I'm not going to be around forever. Tenzin will have kids later on in his life, I hope, and he'll have to pass down the tradition to his kids."_

_"So, what does riding elephant koi have to do with the air nomads and their culture?" Katara asked._

_"Nothing, of course." Aang said, "But like I said before, I just wanted him to have a fun childhood like I did, when I wasn't fighting the fire nation."_

_Katara was really getting tired now. All she wanted to do was collapse into bed and sleep for hours and hours. She wanted to hold off her anger at her husband until the next day/morning._

_"I've heard enough." Katara said sharply, "I'm going to bed."_

_Aang stood up from the table._

_"And you're sleeping on the couch tonight." Katara said._

_"Come on, Katara." Aang said, "I haven't slept in a comfortable bed for almost 2 weeks."_

_"I'm sorry to hear that, but you're still sleeping on the couch." Katara said. _

_"But-"_

_"Go." Katara said, pointing in the direction of the living room._

_All Aang hoped for when he came home was that his two kids who were already there would be sound asleep, and so would Katara. He hoped that he could easily send Tenzin off to bed and promise that they'd unpack tomorrow morning. Then, he would quietly sneak into his shared bedroom with Katara, kick off his shoes, take off his shirt, and climb into bed. He would wrap his arms around Katara, spoon up against her, and fall asleep. But that didn't happen. Instead, the complete opposite happened. _

_Katara thought that she would be up all night, staring at the blank wall in their bedroom. But somehow, she managed to fall asleep. Same scenario with Aang. He thought he would be up all night, missing the feeling of the scent and warmth of Katara's body cuddled up against his, or vice versa. But eventually, Aang fell asleep too. The only one who remained wide awake all night, was Tenzin._

* * *

Around noon, Katara had arrived in the city to pick up Kya and Bumi. When she arrived at her brother's house, she was surprised that they were all packed and ready to go.

"Did they behave?" Katara asked Sokka, when she walked into his house.

"Yeah, they were great." Sokka said, "We even went out last night, walked around the city, bought a few things."

"Thank you, Sokka." Katara said.

"Anytime." Sokka said, "So, uh... They told me about where Aang and Tenzin went..."

"Oh..." Katara said slowly.

"Yeah..." Sokka said, "Did they come home last night?"

"Yeah." Katara said, staring down at the floor.

"Are you okay?" Sokka asked, "Did you two fight?"

"Yeah..." She said, "It got kinda bad."

"How bad?" Sokka asked.

"Well, I kind of kicked him out of bed for the night. And, we got in another fight this morning."

"Oh jeez..." Sokka said, sighing in disappointment.

"But you don't need to worry about us." Katara said, waving her hand like it was no big deal.

"I'm just looking out for my little sister." Sokka said.

Katara leaned forward and hugged Sokka tightly. Sokka hugged her back, and with how tightly she hugged him, he figured that she was really upset.

"Is Aang still there?" Sokka asked.

"No, he went to work." Katara said.

"Oh, okay." Sokka said.

"Yeah..." Katara sighed.

Then, Kya and Bumi came running from the living room to greet their mother.

"Mom!" Kya shouted, pulling her mother into a hug.

"Hi sweetie." Katara said, putting on a smile, "Did you two have fun?"

"Yeah!" Bumi exclaimed, "Uncle Sokka is the best."

Sokka let out a short laugh.

Katara chuckled, "Time to say good-bye, we have to get going."

Katara had just remembered she left Tenzin all alone.

Katara had helped Kya and Bumi climb onto one of the sky bison Aang had discovered shortly after settling down in Republic City. They still couldn't agree on a name for him, so they just referred to the bison as the-one-dad(or Aang)-found.

Sokka waved goodbye to them, just before they set off into the air.

* * *

That evening, Katara and her three kids sat at the table to eat their dinner.

"Shouldn't dad be home by now?" Tenzin asked.

"Oh, of course you-" Bumi started. But Katara stopped him.

"Bumi." She said sharply, "Don't start."

Bumi crossed his arms and pounded them on the table forcefully.

"Save it for after dinner." Kya whispered to him.

Bumi chuckled, "Sure will."

"Will you two cut it out and just eat your dinner?" Katara snapped.

"Okay." Kya said, "Sorry mom."

"So, I would like to hear more about your sleep over at Uncle Sokka's." Katara said, changing the subject.

"You slept over Uncle Sokka's house?!" Tenzin asked.

"Oh, don't be so jealous." Bumi snarled, "You're the one who got to take a vacation all alone with dad, so shut your mouth."

"Bumi." Katara yelled, "Stop it."

Bumi sighed and didn't say another nasty word toward his younger brother.

"Anyway," Katara said, "How was it?"

"I already told you!" Kya said, "We went shopping like all night and then came back home to eat and then we went to bed."

"What did you guys get?" Katara asked.

"Y'know..." Kya said, "Stuff."

"What kind of stuff?" Katara asked.

"Clothes, some food, candy..." Kya said, counting her fingers as she tried to remember everything they bought.

"All of that good stuff!" Bumi chimed in.

_Wow, I feel like I don't belong here, _Tenzin thought to himself.

A few minutes passed where the family was just eating their dinner in silence. No one really knew what to say, and no one truly wanted to speak. They all just wanted to enjoy their dinner. Katara, Bumi, and Kya enjoyed their meal which contained chicken with a side of rice. However, Tenzin, like his father, was a vegetarian and had tofu with a side of rice instead.

There was a low growling sound that came from outside, followed by a small thud.

"Sounds like your father's home." Katara said with a smile.

_Oh god, _Kya thought_, If they start fighting, just make a run for it._

_They better not fight like they did last night, _Tenzin thought to himself.

_I swear, if they start fighting, I'm getting out of here, _Bumi thought.

"Hi sweetie." Katara got up to greet Aang at the door with a kiss on the cheek, "Welcome home!"

_What!? _Tenzin thought to himself, _Thank goodness._

_Guess she's not mad at me anymore, _Aang thought.

"What did I miss?" Aang asked, joining the rest of his family at the dinner table.

"Just about half of the meal." Kya said, trying not to sound angry at her father.

She had mostly gotten over her anger towards her father, but it still lingered there, but not as bad. At least she was talking to him. Though she still was very angry at Tenzin, but did her best to hide it around Aang and Katara. She figured that Bumi felt the same way. But Bumi hadn't said one word to Aang for almost 2 weeks, since they left for their vacation. So this made Kya think twice about how Bumi felt. She couldn't tell if he just didn't know what to say, or he was still angry to a point where he still wouldn't talk to Aang. But it's not like they had seen much of him for the past few weeks. They weren't there when Tenzin and Aang got home, which was good for Kya and Bumi's sake. So, since the last almost 2 weeks, this was the only time they'd seen Aang.

"I'm sorry," Aang said, "They kept me for an extra half hour at work."

_The usual excuse, _Kya thought.

Though she mentally waved off the angry and sarcastic thought directed at her father, and continued to eat.

"So, how was work?" Katara asked.

"It was really slow." Aang said, "I don't even know why the kept me for an extra thirty minutes."

He knew why. And once again, he was lying to his family. But for their own good. And at least this time, his kids couldn't rat him out like they did with his not-so-secret vacation with Teznin. The only reason he stayed behind for an extra thirty minutes was because of Sokka. Sokka had pulled him aside to talk to him.

_"You know," Sokka started, once they sat down at Sokka's desk, "Katara told me about the fight between you two last night."_

_"She did?" Aang asked, feeling like he could have just exploded into a ton of tiny pieces right there. He didn't need his brother-in-law to get involved in this._

_"Yeah, but if it wasn't for your kids telling me about how you took Tenzin, and only Tenzin, out to Kyoshi Island, I wouldn't have asked Katara earlier today when she came to pick them up." Sokka said._

_"Oh jeez," Aang sighed, "Great, everyone's trash talking me behind my back now. Even my own kids."  
_

_"I'm just looking out for niece and nephew. And my sister," Sokka added, "Seriously, when they told me, they sounded so upset and angry."_

_"I know I messed up." Aang said, rubbing his aching head._

_"You better promise me that something like that will never happen again." Sokka demanded._

_"I promise." Aang said. _

Their talk had gone on for a lot longer, but Aang was disrupted in the middle of his thought.

"Aang?" Katara asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

He flinched, and then looked up at Katara.

"What?" Aang asked.

He looked around him. The table was completely cleaned off. Not a single plate remained on the table, except his. His three kids had gone off to do their own thing, which was to go pick on Tenzin, and Aang still sat there, staring in space and thinking about his conversation with Sokka.

"You're food is getting cold!" Katara said, "Are you going to stare at it all night or eat it?"

"Sorry," Aang said, "I guess I kind of zoned out."

"I see that." Katara said, walking out of the kitchen.

"Hey!" Aang called at her, "Aren't you going to sit here with me? I don't want to eat here all alone."

"I'll be right back." She said, walking down the hall.

"It wasn't my fault!" Tenzin shouted, backing away from being cornered by his two older siblings.

"It wasn't your fault that dad just decided to pack up with his favorite child and just leave on some vacation?" Bumi asked, getting closer and closer to his brother. Each word he said, he took a step closer to Tenzin.

"What?!" Tenzin shouted, "I'm not the favorite child! None of us are!"

"You are the favorite child." Kya said, "You're just too dumb to realize it."

"I'm not dumb!" Tenzin yelled, "You two are ridiculous!"

"Kya's right." Bumi agreed, "You just don't realize it because you are always at dad's side. And what ever you want to do, dad will do it for you or with you."

"You think it was my idea to go to Kyoshi Island?!" Tenzin asked in disbelief, "I didn't even know the place existed until Dad told me!"

"Liar." Bumi snarled.

"He's not lying." Kya said, "But, that doesn't change anything."

"Look, you two just have to get over it." Tenzin said, "It already happened. It's over. It's dealt with."

"No, I don't think it is." Bumi said.

"Back off." Tenzin ordered.

"Make me." Bumi teased.

Tenzin grinned, "Oh, I'll make you back off."

Tenzin stepped forward, and jolted his arm out. A blast of air sent Bumi flying. He tumbled on the ground a couple of times, then hit the wall with a harsh thud, then slid to the floor. Tenzin took one look at Bumi. He looked scared, or worried. Almost like he accidentally killed someone. Then, he just took off running, down the hall, and out of sight.

"Bumi!" Kya shouted, running to his side.

He groaned in response. The poor boy got the wind knocked out of him, and he couldn't speak. He just stared up at his sister, desperately.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a panic.

He couldn't even shake his head. He couldn't breathe.

"Bumi?!" She shouted, shaking his shoulders lightly.

He groaned, then hit the floor, unconscious.

* * *

"He did what?" Katara screamed.

"See it's a long story..." Kya said, "But in the end, he just air bended Bumi out of his way, making him go tumbling and slammed against the wall! It was scary!"

"What's all the yelling and screaming about?" Aang asked, walking into the room.

"Tenzin nearly killed Bumi." Kya said.

"What?!" Aang shouted.

"Kya, stop exaggerating." Katara said, "It's not like that, Aang."

"Well then what happened?" Aang asked quickly.

"Okay. Well long story short." Kya began, "Bumi was in Tenzin's way, so Tenzin air bended this big gust of wind at Bumi, sending him flying and he started tumbling and tumbling and then slammed into the wall."

"Do you know where Tenzin is?" Aang asked.

"No." Kya said, crossing her arms. She was angry that her father completely ignored her story and instead, he was only curious to know where is favorite child was.

_Of course!_ Kya thought to herself.

"He just took off running like a big coward." Kya muttered angrily.

"I'm going to look for him." Aang said.

No you're not! Kya thought.

Kya water bended water from the cup on the nightstand next to her parents' bed, and whacked Aang in the face with her new water bending move called the Water Whip. Aang stopped right in his tracks. He turned around, and threw her a look. A look that meant she was in big trouble.

* * *

"Why are you out here all alone?" Aang asked, sitting next to his youngest son.

It didn't take Aang a while to find his son sitting alone in the Meditation Dojo. This was always his first spot to go to whenever he had just "ran away" from a big fight or argument with his older siblings. He would also come out here to be alone after hearing his parents fight. Tenzin usually didn't mind one of his parents to come out and join him, though he hadn't remembered the last time Katara had come out here to meditate beside him. It wasn't something Katara would do. But tonight, Tenzin did mind. After the fight with his siblings, and being cornered by them, he just wanted to have all of the space he could possibly have. He also just wanted to be alone, to be far away from all of the drama that occurred in that house in the past 20 hours.

"I came out here to meditate." Tenzin said, calmly, "Can you please leave me alone, Dad?"

"I came out here to talk to you, Tenzin." Aang said, "I heard what you did to your brother. And on that note, I am not going to leave you alone until you tell me why you did what you did to Bumi."

Tenzin sighed, and turned sideways to face his father. Aang gave him a I'm-waiting look.

"I bet Bumi didn't tell you the full story." Tenzin said.

"No, he didn't." Aang said, "It was Kya who had talked to me. And she didn't give me the full story anyway."

"Her and Bumi were cornering me." Tenzin started, "They were, and I wouldn't doubt that they still are, mad at me because of the whole vacation thing."

Aang rubbed his face and sighed. Why couldn't they just get over that? Before he let himself drift away in his own thoughts, he motioned for Tenzin to continue.

"They wouldn't back off, after I already told them to." Tenzin continued, "After I said back off, Bumi said: Make me. So I made him. By air bending at him."

"Tenzin," Aang sighed, "You hurt your brother pretty bad."

Tenzin looked up at him with a worried and sad look, "Oh no! I did?"

"Not that bad, but you did hurt him." Aang said, "You knocked the wind out of him, Tenzin. He couldn't breathe."

Tenzin put his head in his hands and shook his head, "I didn't mean to! I'm serious!"

"I know that." Aang said, "But next time, just be more careful. Don't do it that powerfully, next time. If there is a next time."

"I wouldn't doubt it." Tenzin said, sighing.

"So, why don't you go apologize to Bumi, and come inside for the night?" Aang suggested, "It's getting kind of chilly out here."

"I don't see why not." Tenzin said with a shrug, before he airbended himself up from the ground.

* * *

"So, did you talk to him?" Katara asked, as she stood in the doorway of the kitchen after her husband and youngest son came back inside.

"Yes, I did." Aang said, "And it wasn't entirely his fault."

"Do you mean it, or are you just saying that?" Katara asked, walking over to Aang.

"I mean it." He said with a smile.

"Good." Katara said, adjusting the collar of his air nomad robes.

He smiled at her, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She rested her head against his chest and yawned.

"I'm getting tired." Katara said, "What do you say we go to bed?"

"Does this mean I no longer have to sleep on the couch?" Aang asked.

"Of course not!" She said, "That was just a one-night-thing."

He looked at her, and grinned.

"Thank you, sweetie." He said to her.

"You don't need to thank me." She said, looking up at him.

He was thankful for many of the things that she had given him. But tonight, he was mostly thankful for the fact that she had forgiven him so easily after everything that had just happened in the past 24 hours.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	4. Family and Crushes

**Introducing three characters in this chapter. They're not "new" because we already know a lot about them. Toph and Lin Bei Fong. And Suki!**

**2 months have past since the last chapter.**

**Toph brings her daughter Lin over for dinner and play date with Tenzin. Tenzin realizes he has a crush on her. Sokka and Suki also tag along for the trip. Lin thinks of Sokka as a fatherly figure, since she doesn't have a father of her own. Lin shares a story she recently learned about her mother, but there are more to find out. P.S my ship for Lin's father is The Duke.**

**Tenzin isn't as 'serious' as he would usually be. I just wanted to show my audience that, in my head cannon, Tenzin wasn't ALWAYS just straight-out-serious. He can have fun, too.**

* * *

**Chapter 4 - Family and Crushes**

* * *

"Sokka, Suki, and Toph are coming over for dinner." Katara told Aang.

Katara and Aang laid down next to each other on the couch in the living room. Aang was enjoying his day off, especially since he was spending it with his family.

"Any idea when they're coming over?" Aang asked.

"Sokka, Suki, and Lin should be here any second now..." Katara said, "And I have no idea when Toph will be here."

There was a blur of orange and yellow that rushed by the doorway. The gust of wind was so powerful, that it blew back Katara's hair into Aang's face. Followed by the blur of orange and yellow was Kya, chasing after her younger brother.

"Get back here!" She screamed.

But the young air bender was far ahead of her, laughing and teasing her yelling: Can't catch me! Can't catch me!

"Thanks for the locks of hair in my face." Aang said.

"Sorry," Katara said, brushing her hair back with her fingers.

"You smell good, though." Aang said with a laugh.

"Well that's always a plus." Katara said with a smile.

He smiled at her. He loved seeing her so happy. The past 9 weeks haven't been the best for the good of their relationship, and especially the relationship with his two oldest kids. He was happy to find out that his two oldest kids had gotten over their anger towards him.

"Might as well find out why Kya and Tenzin are racing around the house." Katara said, sitting up.

Aang had gotten up, to let her climb off of the couch easily. He offered her his hand, but she waved it away and gotten up with no problem.

She rushed down the hall to try and find out where Kya and Tenzin dashed off to.

"Can't catch me!" Tenzin teased, "Hahaha!"

"Come back here, you wimp!" Kya demanded.

The young water bender was still chasing after her little brother. She was running out of breath, and ready to give up. And just then, Tenzin made an air scooter, to gain even more speed, which made Kya at an even bigger disadvantage to chase her brother.

"Fine!" She shouted, placing her hands on her knees and took a moment to catch her breath, "You win!"

"That's right!" Tenzin shouted back. He hopped off of his air scooter, and started laughing and pointing at Kya.

Kya eventually caught up with her brother.

"How are you not out of breath?" She asked.

"Because I'm the greatest air bender in the world." He bragged.

"No you're not." She accused, "Dad is!"

"Well that makes me the second best!" He said, "Hah!"

"Yeah because you're the only other air bender besides dad in the whole world! But if you weren't, you'd be the worst air bender!" Kya yelled.

"Jeez, I just beat you in a race." Tenzin said, "There's not need to get so upset."

"No, you cheated to win." Kya accused him.

"But I still won!" He argued, "You're just jealous because I'm faster than you."

"What is going on here?" Katara shouted.

"Tenzin cheated in the race we were in!" Kya said, pointing her index finger at Tenzin.

"No!" Tenzin argued, "I just used my air bending to get ahead of her!"

"Honey, that's cheating." Katara said with a laugh.

"No it's not!" Tenzin complained, "She's just jealous because she's not as skilled in water bending as I am in air bending!"

This made both Kya and Katara mad.

"Now you sound like Bumi!" Kya argued, "How much do you want to bet that I'm a better bender than you?"

"You want to fight?" Tenzin said.

"Bring it on." Kya said, with a laugh.

_I can not believe these are the children i've raised. _Katara thought to herself.

Kya formed a water whip, and smacked Tenzin upside the head with it, causing him to lose balance. But Tenzin, being the air bender he is, air bended a gust of wind to help himself to keep balance. Kya stepped forward, forming another water whip with her bending water and Tenzin yelped.

"Mom!"He cried.

Katara slapped her forehead with her palm and shook her head.

"I knew it." Kya said, "You are a wimp."

Tenzin took a step back, made a circular movement with his arms, and air bended a gust of wind at Kya. The air only made her stumble back in her steps. She regained balance, then smirked at her brother. She started making a ton of flowing movements with her arms, in attempt to completely wash Tenzin to the other side of the courtyard, but something stopped her. She lost control of the water she was bending, and it swirled around her and then Tenzin.

"What do you call that move?" Tenzin said, "It was cool and all, but it's not something you should use in a fight."

"You're trying to give me advice?" Kya laughed at him, "I don't need any of your advice. You can hardly even knock me down."

"I could." Tenzin said, "But because of what happened last time when I did that, I don't want to hurt you or Bumi anymore. Unless I have to."

Kya looked around. Her mother was still facepalming, so she had no idea who had made her lose control of her water.

"Anyway." Kya said, "Who did that?"

"What?" Tenzin asked, "The crazy water bending move that I say you should totally use for whenever you go out dancing at a club or something?"

"Oh shut up." Kya said, "But yes, that."

"Was that you, mom?" Tenzin asked.

"No." She said, "I bet it was the man standing over there."

She pointed in the distance of the courtyard.

"The one with the blue arrows, look directly at you two..." Katara explained.

"We get it." Kya said, "Dad did it."

Aang walked over to his two youngest kids.

"Yeah go dad!" Tenzin cheered, "Show her that us air nomads know how to beat her watertribe butt!"

"Tenzin, you're part of the watertribe too," Kya said, "Dummy."

"Yeah, but I'm more of an air nomad than you are!" Tenzin argued.

"So?" Kya said with a shrug, "I like being a waterbender. And I don't cheat in races with my older siblings!"

"Once again," Tenzin sighed, "I was just using my air bending abilities-"

"To speed yourself up." Kya finished the sentence for him, "That's still considered cheating."

"Alright that's enough, you two." Aang interrupted, "And the main reason I came out here was to tell you three that Sokka, Suki, and Lin arrived."

* * *

"Uncle Sokka!" Kya shouted, running into his arms, "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too." Sokka said, hugging the young girl back.

Then, Kya went to hug her Aunt Suki.

"It's been so long, Aunt Suki!" Kya said.

"I know!" Suki agreed, "I'm sorry that I haven't gotten to see you three enough. There's still a lot of business to take care of back in Kyoshi Island, with the Kyoshi Warriors."

"You're a Kyoshi Warrior?" Kya asked, stunned with disbelief.

"Yeah!" Suki said, "I didn't know your parents never told you guys."

"Why don't you three kids, and Lin, go off and play outside or something?" Katara suggest, "The grown ups want to talk for a bit before dinner is ready."

"Okay." They all agreed.

* * *

"Okay, so who's 'it'?" Bumi asked

"I'm not being 'it'." Tenzin argued, "I hate being 'it'."

"Okay..." Kya said, "So, who wants to be 'it'?"

No one volunteered.

"Alright, I guess I am..." Kya said.

"Okay, start counting!" Bumi ordered.

"One... Two... Three..."

The kids scattered all around the courtyard.

Tenzin noticed how Lin had no idea where to hide. Usually when she'd come over with her mom and play with Tenzin, they'd stay indoors.

"You want to hide together?" Tenzin asked.

"Okay." Lin agreed.

Tenzin grabbed Lin's hand and ran over to the trees.

"You want to hide in the trees?" Lin asked, "Why?"

"'Cause, it'd be harder to find us." Tenzin said, "And as I said before, I hate being 'it', so I don't want to be found first."

"Twenty-six... Twenty-seven..."

"C'mon!" Tenzin said quickly.

Tenzin airbended himself high up in the tree. And Lin followed, using her earthbending to toss herself into the tree. Tenzin grabbed her hand again, so she wouldn't slip as she climbed up to reach where Tenzin was in the tree.

"Thirty-four... Thirty-five... Thirty-six... Thirty-seven, thirty-eight... thirty-nine... forty!" Kya announced, "Ready or not, here I come!"

Lin bit back a giggle as Tenzin and her watched Kya walk by them.

A few minutes later of searching, they heard Kya shout, "Hah! Found you, Bumi!"

"Yes!" Tenzin cheered silently to himself.

Lin rolled her eyes at him.

"What?" He whispered, incase Kya or Bumi were around.

"You... that's all." Lin whisper back.

Tenzin turned away to hide his blush.

Bumi caught up with Kya.

"Now who are we looking for?" Bumi asked.

"Lin or Tenzin." Kya said.

"Tenzin's probably on the roof." Bumi said.

"Why would he be on the roof?" Kya asked.

"'Cause he can fly." Bumi said.

"Technically, yes..." Kya answered for Bumi, "But, only because he's an airbender."

"Airbender shnairbender..." Bumi said, "I still call it flying."

"Yeah, 'cause you're a goof ball." Kya said, rolling her eyes.

This time, Lin couldn't hold in her giggle, and she happen to laugh right as they walked by.

"Did you hear that?" Bumi asked.

"It was a laugh." Kya agreed.

"Up there!" Bumi said, pointing to the tree.

Kya spotted Lin and Tenzin hiding together, and instead of announcing that she found them, she started bursting out laughing. Bumi noticed why she was laughing, and did what any older brother would do, and teased Tenzin.

"Tenzin and Lin, sittin' in a tree." He sang, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Literally!" Kya choked out after bursting out with laughter, "In a tree!"

Tenzin and Lin's faces turned bright red.

"We aren't kissing!" Tenzin said.

"Sure you weren't!" Bumi teased, sarcastically.

Kya continued cracking up with laughter, "Tenzin and Lin!" Bumi and Kya sang, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"We were just hiding together!" Tenzin shouted, as he airbended himself out of the tree.

"'Hiding together'" Kya said, gesturing the quotation marks with her index and middle fingers.

"Cut it out, Kya!" Tenzin argued.

"Oh man, that was hilarious." Kya said.

"And who's that boy, Tenzin, that you told me Kya likes?" Lin asked, "Arnook right? Or something like that..."

Kya glared at Tenzin, "Oh you are so dead. You know I don't like him!"

"Mhm..." Lin said sarcastically.

Kya began to chase Tenzin, in attempt to tackle him down after telling Lin about her crush.

Tenzin formed an air scooter and quickly got away from Kya.

"Well, there goes your boyfriend." Bumi teased Lin.

"Tenzin isn't my boyfriend!" Lin said, marching away from them.

* * *

"Mom!" Tenzin shouted, as he ran inside.

"What? What's wrong?" Katara asked quickly.

"Kya and Bumi are teasing me!" Tenzin said.

Kya ran inside, after her youngest brother.

"Oh for goodness sake, Tenzin..." Katara groaned.

"Mom, don't listen to him!" Kya shouted, "He's lying!"

"Are you and Bumi ganging up on Tenzin?" Katara asked Kya.

"What?" Kya shouted, "No..."

Toph held in her laughter, as she sensed the young waterbender was lying.

"Mom!" Tenzin whined, "She's lying!"

"What's going on?" Aang asked, as he walked over to his wife and two of his three kids.

"Kya and Bumi were teasing me!" Tenzin complained.

"What were they saying?" Aang asked.

"He's lying, dad!" Kya said.

"No! She's lying!" Tenzin said, pointing to Kya, "They were teasing me because we were playing hide and seek, and Lin and I hid together in a tree, and they found us, and started teasing us saying that I was kissing Lin! I wasn't, dad! We we're just hiding together, because Lin couldn't find a place to hide."

Toph was finding it harder and harder to hold in her laugh, but she managed to.

Aang and Katara sighed.

"Really, Kya?" Katara asked, "Come on now, your brother is only eight!"

"But he told Lin about how I have a crush on a boy named Arnook!" Kya complained.

"Who's Arnook?" Katara asked.

"No one, just a boy from school." Kya said quickly, "So it's fair!"

"So, you lied to us?" Aang asked.

"Well..." Kya said slowly.

"Yes, she did lie to you!" Tenzin whined.

Don't be so surprised, Dad, Kya thought, You've lied about even worse things.

Katara sighed, "Dinner will be ready in ten minutes. Just go back outside. And quit picking on your little brother!"

"Ugh, fine!" Kya groaned, pulling Tenzin back outside by his arm.

* * *

When Tenzin and Kya got back, they found Lin and Bumi bonding. This made Tenzin a little jealous.

"So what are you guys talking about?" Tenzin asked.

"Lin and her relationship with her father." Bumi said, "She actually has a lot of interesting stories to tell. No wonder why you like her so much."

"Bumi, stop being ridiculous!" Tenzin argued, "I don't like Lin the way you think I do."

"I'm still going to deny it." Bumi said, "But, anyway, you should tell them the story you just told me, Lin."

Lin earth bended two places to sit, and gestured for Tenzin and Kya to sit down. They obeyed, and Lin started telling her story she had just told Bumi.

"Well, my mom always told me that my father was an amazing man," Lin started, "Which I never understood, because my father wasn't even there when I was born."

"That's sad..." Kya said.

"You get used to it after a while." Lin said, "I never saw my father once."

They stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

"My mom says that my dad was a great man before he found out he was going to be a father one day." Lin continued, "So, he ran off. He left the city, probably even the country, and never saw or said one word to my mom. Some people knew him, and said he died."

"What was his name?" Kya asked.

"This may sound a bit silly." Lin went on, "But I'm not sure if this is his real name or a nickname... But anyway, he went by The Duke."

* * *

"So, mom." Lin started at the dinner table, "How did you meet my father?"

Toph gasped at the sudden dramatic change of subject. Then, she stiffened in her chair and began to scold her daughter.

"Lin!" She yelled, "You know not to ask questions about him. And especially not at the dinner table."

Sokka, Katara, Suki, and Aang exchanged worried looks. Even they never asked about Toph's relationship with a guy, or the relationship between Toph and Lin's 'baby daddy.'

"Sorry..." Lin said, passing the dish of butter to her left.

"Anyway," Toph said, "Sorry about that. It's just that the relationship I had with your father, Lin, was very complicated after I found out I was pregnant with you. I just don't like discussing it."

"Well you're talking about it now..." Lin commented.

Instead of exploding right there at the table, Toph gained some self control and stood up out of her chair. She walked over to Lin. Lin tensed up, afraid that she would smack her upside the head. It wasn't the first time she did it. Everyone else watched with scared eyes. Toph turned to face the rest of the table.

"Will you all calm down?" Toph said, "Sheesh, all of your hearts are beating like a damn hammer."

Everyone else continued eating, but Lin stared up at her mother. Her mother turned back to face her daughter, and put her hand out.

"Lin, come with me." She demanded, "We need to talk."

Lin grabbed her mother's hand, and followed her out to the living room.

"Mom, what are you doing?" Lin said, quietly to Toph, "You're making a fool of yourself!"

"Fool of myself?" Toph asked.

"Well that's not what I meant, but you-"

"Lin, sit down." Toph demanded

Lin obeyed

Toph sat down beside her child, and her blank eyes stared at the floor. They were sitting alone in the living room of Aang and Katara's home.

"I told you back there, that I do not like you mentioning your father." Toph stated, "You know that. And you also know not to get all smart-mouthy with me, missy!"

"I'm sorry, mom." Lin pleaded, "I know.

"Okay." Toph said, "But I will tell you a little more about your father.

"I just felt kinda left out... Because my dad isn't around." Lin admitted, "Like I said, I'm just sorry for asking about him, okay?"

"Lin, it's nothing to get upset over." Toph said, "You wouldn't want to meet your father, anyway."

"Why?" Lin asked, "What was he like?"

"He seemed nice at first, of course." Toph said, "Like all men usually are. But, after about a month, he was a real jerk."

"Oh..." Lin said.

"You're a little too young hear the whole story," Toph said, "But in general, your father turned out to be a real jerk."

Lin sighed.

"He left me right after I found out I was pregnant with you." Toph said, "He ran off to live a 'better life' with some other girl."

"That's pretty sad." Lin commented.

"Recently, someone told me that they knew your father." Toph said, "They weren't lying."

Lin looked up at her. Her heart beat faster, because she was so eager for her mother to continue. She would do anything to find out more information about her father. She was actually planning to somehow meet him, but she wouldn't know how she would get to where ever he was.

"Really?" She asked.

"Yeah." Toph said, "And they told me that your father had died. And I wasn't angry, upset, or happy. I didn't know how I should've emotionally felt."

"It's a shame that I never got to meet him." Lin commented.

"Yeah, but I don't think you would like him." Toph said, "It is what it is."

Lin smiled, "Thanks mom."

"No problem, sweetie." Toph said, "I'll tell you more about your father later when we get home. But I don't want to mention anything here. There's too much to say, too much to take in emotionally, and we should be going back to the table to eat dinner anyway. I didn't mean to interrupt our, and their, meal."

"I also wanted to you to know that I love you so much. Even if I never express it enough, I love you more than anything." Toph added.

Lin wrapped her arms around Toph, "I know mom. I love you too."

After dinner, the gang and their kids hung around for a few more hours. Then, around 9 o'clock PM, the kids were complaining how tired they were. And as Katara had said, it was a school night. And Toph and Lin, and Suki and Sokka had a long ride home. Despite how tired she was, and the fact that it was a school night, Lin still wanted to hear the rest of the stories about her father as she was promised. And when they got home, Toph had agreed to tell her the rest of the story.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	5. Sick

**This chapter mainly involves flashbacks and stories of Lin's father. All of my head canon here, no information was released. The only thing we know is that season three of Legend Of Korra will contain A LOT about Lin and her family's background.**

**And yes, they do go to school. I have a conflict idea for a future chapter, involving one of the cloud babies' school life.**

**Toph tells incredible tales about Lin's father. They are to believe that The Duke is dead, but Lin doesn't believe it. She wants to find out for herself. Is this 8 year old girl out of her mind? Does she really think she can go on a trip outside of the country alone? Back on Air Temple Island, Bumi and Tenzin come down with some sickness. Tenzin is rushed to the hospital.**

**Real creative name for a chapter, right? Yeah, no. The next ones will be better.**

* * *

**Chapter 5 - Sick**

* * *

"I want to know more." Lin begged.

Lin sat on the edge of her seat, as her mother told the "breath taking" tales about Lin's father. Her mother sat on the love seat across from the one Lin was sitting in, and a coffee table was placed in the middle with a small fire underneath to keep their tea warm.

"Lin, it's getting late." Toph said, "I'm exhausted from work."

"Please, mom!" Lin begged, "One last tale."

"You've been saying that since the last five stories I've told you!" Toph argued.

"One more!" Lin begged, "I mean it this time. Just one more."

"Okay fine." Toph agreed, "But this is the last one."

"Thank you mom." Lin said, "You have no idea what this means to me."

"Do you want to sit here thanking me all night, or do you want me to go on?" Toph asked. She was cranky from a long day at work.

"Please, go on." Lin said, casually.

_"It's our one year anniversary." Toph said, leaning over The Duke's chair to give him a kiss on the cheek, "And I have some very important news to tell you."_

_"What is it?" The Duke asked, turning around in his chair._

_Toph pulled up a chair beside him, and sat down at the table. _

_At the time, they only had a small apartment together. Not the huge house Toph lives in currently with her daughter. _

_"Well, there's no easy way to say this," Toph said, "So I might as well just get it over with."_

_"Go on..." He said._

_"I'm pregnant." Toph said._

_"A-are you sure?" He asked._

_Toph could feel his heart pounding, like a hammer. He wasn't only nervous, he was mad._

_"Positive." Toph said, not sure if she should be happy or worried._

_"I-I- I can't believe it." The Duke said._

_"Why do you sound so upset?" Toph asked, "There's nothing we can do about it."_

_"I mean, I love you Toph." The Duke said, "But I don't want to have children with you."_

_"What?" Toph asked, stunned with disbelief._

_"I never wanted children." The Duke confessed, "All I wanted was a happy relationship with the woman of my dreams. No kids involved."_

_"But you have to stay here." Toph stated, almost like she demanded it. But she kept her voice calm, "You're this baby's father. You can't just leave."_

_"I'm not the first man on this planet that's done it." The Duke said._

_"This is our own creation you're talking about." Toph said, "You're the one that helped me get stuck in this situation! And now you're just going to abandon me like this?"_

_So much for keeping her voice 'calm.'_

_"I'm sorry." The Duke said, "But I can't have a happy relationship with you like this."_

_"So you're just going to leave?" Toph argued._

_"It's what's best for me." The Duke said._

_"How could you be so selfish?" Toph said, "It's not all about you, anymore! It's about this baby. Our baby."_

_"Selfish?" The Duke threw her own words right back at her, "I'm not the one who asked this to happen."_

_"And you think I'm the one who planned on having this kid?" Toph asked, "I'm just the one who's stuck here having to carry this thing for 9 months!"_

_"I'm sorry, Toph." The Duke said, "But what we had between us is over now. It's just history. I'm leaving now."_

_"You can't just leave!" Toph said._

_"I'm sorry." The Duke said, "There's another girl I know. I'm going to have my dream life that I always wanted with her."_

_The door slammed shut, and Toph listened to his heavy foot steps get quieter and quieter. She slid down against the wall, landed on her bottom, pulled her legs to her chest, and started sobbing. _

_Once she stopped crying enough to pull herself off of the ground, she knew exactly what she was going to do next. Go to Katara and Aang's house._

"Wow." Lin said, "I can't believe The Duke - I mean, my father - did that to you..."

"He did it to us." Toph reminded her.

"Right." Lin said, looking down at her feet.

"There's not much left of the story." Toph said.

"Oh." Lin said, "Then continue."

_When Toph arrived at Air Temple Island, she pounded on the door, fighting back tears, and praying that Katara would she heard Katara's voice say 'I'll get it.' she was so relieved._

_"Katara." Toph said, her voice cracking, "I need to seriously talk to you."_

_"Oh my goodness, Toph!" Katara gasped, "You're an emotional mess. What happened?"_

_"The Duke dumped me and completely abandoned me." Toph said._

_"I'm so sorry, Toph." Katara said, giving her a quick hug, "But why did he break up with you?"_

_"Because I'm pregnant." Toph said._

_"Oh..." Katara said, "But congratulations on the baby."_

_"Thanks, but it's not anything to be so happy about." Toph said._

_"Sure it is!" Katara said, "Trust me, once you get to meet him or her, you'll fall in love."_

"So, you didn't even want me in the first place." Lin commented.

"Lin, don't think of it that way." Toph said, "Sure, you were an 'un-planned' baby, but that doesn't mean I love you any less than if you were a planned baby. Katara was right, I did fall in love with you once I first met you. I was only so shocked at first because I knew I was going to be alone raising a child."

Lin didn't know what to say.

"It's definitely not easy to raise a child. Especially on your own." Toph said.

Lin still stayed quiet.

"Before it gets any later," Toph said, "Go get in your pajamas, brush your teeth, and get in bed."

Lin obeyed.

* * *

"Why me?" Tenzin asked.

His father laughed.

"I mean every single time I sneeze, I fly like... Like a billion feet in the air!" Tenzin complained.

Aang leaned over and squeezed his son's shoulder, "You should get some rest."

Katara knocked on the already opened bedroom door to Tenzin's room. She was carrying a tray of tea, soup and crackers.

"Hopefully this will make you feel a little better." Katara said, placing the tray down on the nightstand next to Tenzin's bed, "Plus, you need to eat and drink."

"I'm not hungry." Tenzin said.

"Okay..." She sighed, "But you to at least drink something."

"I might after I get some sleep." Tenzin said.

"You will." She corrected him, "At least take one or two sips right now. Please."

"Okay, fine." Tenzin said, sighing.

"If you want to get better, you'll eat and drink." Katara said, "Or you can just sit there and moan about how you're not hungry and never get better."

"Okay, okay." Tenzin said, putting his hand up in defense, "I'll do what ever..."

"Thank you," Katara said, leaning down to kiss him on the forehead, "I'm going to go check on your brother and see how he's doing."

And on that note, Katara left the room and made her way down the hall to check on her oldest son.

"Dad, there has to be another way to get rid of this." Tenzin said.

Aang shrugged, "I don't know any other ways."

"I wish I didn't say anything!" Tenzin scolded himself.

"Tenzin, It's not easy to hide a sickness like this." Aang said, "Especially when you fly thirty feet in the air every time you sneeze."

Tenzin let out a small laugh, which quickly turned into a coughing fit. Aang didn't know how he could help, and there really wasn't a way he could. Once Tenzin's coughing fit was over, he tried to lay back down. But when he laid back down, he choked on something. Probably his saliva, but it had a funny taste. He sat up, and coughed threw another fit.

"Drink some water," Aang said, "It sounds, and looks painful."

Tenzin still had a tickle in his throat, so he coughed it out. When he removed his hand from his mouth, his palm was covered in blood. He saw it, Aang saw it, and neither of them knew what to do.

* * *

"Where's Twinkle Toes?" Toph asked Sokka, "He's about forty-five minutes late."

"Who knows?" Sokka said, leaning back in his chair and folding his hands on the surface of his work desk.

"He better have a good excuse for being late." Toph said.

"Yeah, if he shows up." Sokka agreed.

There were footsteps down the hall, coming closer and closer.

"Is that Aang?" Sokka asked.

"Are you kidding?" Toph said, "If it were Aang, his footsteps would not be that loud."

"Right..." Sokka said.

"Jeez." Toph said, "It's the council page."

"Why would she be here?" Sokka wondered.

"Excuse me, Chief Bei Fong, and Councilman Sokka." She said, "I have a message from the Avatar."

"What's going on?" Toph asked.

"He said that he wont be able to make it to work today." The council page said.

"Did he say why?" Sokka asked.

"I can hardly read this handwriting..." She said, her eyes darting down the parchment of paper, "He said his son was rushed to the hospital."

* * *

**15 minutes earlier...**

Aang jumped out of his seat, and ran down the hall.

"Katara!" He screamed, "Katara come quick!"

He peaked his head into Bumi's room. She wasn't there. Bumi was laying in his bed asleep. He shut the door, and continued screaming for his wife.

_Where is she?! _He thought.

"Katara!" He screamed once again.

He ran into Kya's room, bumping right into Katara.

"Good lord, Aang!" Katara grunted, "What is so urgent?"

"It's Tenzin." He said, panting, "He coughed... And then when he removed his hand... It was covered... In blood."

"Looks like you're not going to school after all, Kya." Katara said, trying to keep her voice calm, "We're going to the hospital."

Katara ran down the hall to her youngest son's bedroom, to help him out of bed.

"Mom..." He coughed, more blood dripping off of his lips.

"Oh my gosh." She gasped.

Luckily, she had her pouch on her. She water bended water from her pouch, and tried healing his lungs. But the boy still coughed up blood.

"We have to get him on Appa, and fly him over to the city." Aang said, running in, and picking up Tenzin, "Get Bumi and Kya, and we have to leave now!"

Katara grabbed Kya's hand, rushed into Bumi's room and woke him up.

"Huh?" He yawned, "What's going on?"

"There's no time to explain, let's go!" Katara said, in attempt to pull him out of bed.

"I need to get some pants on!" He shouted.

"Oh come on Bumi!" Katara pouted, "Hurry up!"

It took Bumi a couple of minutes to get changed, brush his teeth, and catch up with the rest of his family. But in about 20 minutes, they were off flying and into the city.

Once they finally arrived, Aang helped each one of his kids, and Katara, off of Appa's saddle. He picked up Tenzin, who was now hardly conscious, and air bended himself off of Appa. A lone reporter noticed Aang's tattoos, and ran up to him, but Aang waved him away and ran inside.

"Our son is sick and started coughing up blood." Katara couldn't keep her voice calm, she was nearly screaming.

"Right this way." The nurse at the desk said, leading them down a hall to the left called B-wing.

Aang rushed down the hall to catch up with Katara. Kya and Bumi were told to stay in the waiting room.

"Here." The nurse said, offering Aang a stretcher, "Put him on here."

Aang carefully placed Tenzin down on the stretcher. He was really fighting hard to stay conscious. His eyes and body were giving up, but he tried so hard to keep his eyes open.

About 10 minutes later, all he could see were a million blurs of people working around him. This made him feel over whelmed, and dizzy. He groaned, then slipped into a state of unconsciousness.

"I'm going to ask you two to step out of the room." One doctor said, "It's getting too crowded, and it's really bad."

* * *

"Mom?" Kya asked, pulling on the sleeve of Katara's jacket.

"What?" She replied.

"Is Tenzin going to be okay?" Kya asked.

Katara had hardly heard the full question. Her head was spinning like crazy. She couldn't think straight, stay calm, or focus. She kept wondering what the doctor meant when he said: and it's really bad. Was Tenzin going to die?

No, stop thinking like that, She scolded herself.

"Mom?" Kya asked again, this time, tapping her on the shoulder, which seemed to wake Katara from her crazy thoughts.

"Huh?" Katara asked.

"I asked if Tenzin is going to be okay." Kya said.

"Oh." Katara said, "Honestly, I don't know. I'm sorry. They wouldn't tell us anything."

The nurse came from the B-wing hall, and came out to talk to them.

"He's been in and out of consciousness." The nurse said, "He's stable."

"Oh thank goodness." Katara sighed with relief.

"Thankfully, he didn't lose much blood either." The nurse said, "And he sneezed once or twice... And went flying into the air..."

Aang couldn't help but chuckle.

"It was incredible, actually." The nurse added, "I shouldn't be laughing, but it was kind of funny."

"It's an airbender thing." Kya said.

"A-airbender?" The nurse asked in shock.

Kya nodded.

The nurse looked at Aang's tattoo on his head.

"You're the Avatar!" She said with a gasp.

"Yes, I am." Aang said with a smile.

"Wow..." The nurse sounded speechless, "But anyway, I have a few questions for you two."

"Oh..." Katara said slowly.

"Come back here with me please." The nurse commanded, and led them to the back of the waiting room.

They sat down casually and the nurse began asking her questions. Some of which Katara and Aang took a little too personally. But then, the questions were easier to ask, and answer.

"Has he been coughing a lot lately?" The nurse asked.

"Yeah." Katara said, "He woke us up in the middle of the night saying he didn't feel well. Our oldest son was sick the day before... So I guess he caught what ever he has from his brother. And ever since then, he's been throwing up, coughing, sneezing..."

"We think that the blood he coughed up was caused by a few veins being burst," The nurse said.

"But if that were the case," Katara said, "Wouldn't it not be as bad? When he first coughed up the blood, there was an awful lot."

"We're still trying to figure out what exactly had happened," The nurse informed her, "As I said, that's just what we think that caused him to cough up blood."

"How long will he need to stay here?" Aang asked, "A couple of days? Maybe a week?"

"How ever long it takes us to figure out what caused it." The nurse said.

"How long do you think that would take?" Katara said.

"Possibly one week, maybe two..." The nurse said.

There was no way Katara and Aang would let that happen.

* * *

"I came here as fast as we could." Toph said, once she arrived to the hospital, panting.

"You came here all by yourself?" Katara asked.

"It's not big deal." Toph said, "I don't need someone to hold my hand while I run across the street."

"What about Lin?" Katara asked, "Wasn't she supposed to come over this morning?"

"You mean she never came over?" Toph asked.

"No..." Katara said.

"What? I sent her over this morning." Toph said, "She left the house. I felt her leave."

"And you trusted an eight year old girl to come over to the island alone?" Katara argued.

"She's done it before!" Toph said, "You're not her mother!"

"But she's my niece," Katara said, "I care about her, just as much as I care about my own children."

"Shit! Jeez, Katara! Aren't you taking this seriously?!" Toph yelled, "Lin could be dead for all we know!"

"You can't think like that." Katara said, putting her hand on Toph's shoulder.

"I'm just being realistic." Toph said, "She's only eight years old, who knows what could of happened to her."

"Toph, we'll find her." Katara said, "Where ever she is, we'll find her."

* * *

**To be continued...**


	6. The Downfall Of Us All

**In this chapter, I plan on jumping from character to character. Some characters and their stories will be shorter than the others. Lets just see how it all turns out.**

**A week has gone by, Tenzin is slowly healing. The gang can't find Lin. New troubles face Kya and her friend at school. It's all chaotic for the gang and their families.**

**The information on Kyoshi and her conflicts with Chin were found off of wiki/Kyoshi I rearranged some of the words, and I do NOT claim them as my own. One more thing, I know that officers Saikhan and Song are both officers under LIN's control in Legend of Korra Book 1, but I couldn't find/think of an other names. **

* * *

**Chapter 6 - The Downfall Of Us All**

* * *

For the past three days, school for the young watertribe girl had not been going well. Ever since she became known as the Avatar's daughter, people treat her like she's some snobby rich girl that gets everything she wants. But, that was the complete opposite of Kya. Kya's personality was almost exactly like her mother. Then again, most of Kya's genes were passed down from her mother. Just like how her little brother got more of Aang's genes. And then Bumi was a combination of both.

Kya had met up with her friend in the hallway, and as they usually did, they walked each other to their classes. Lucky enough for the both of them, they had all of their classes together. Kya's friend, Miki, was the only friend she had to hang out with and talk to during school. Some people in their school were just so rude, that they would purposely bump into either one of them, and/or purposely swat their belongings out of their hands, making them fall, and making pencils, and papers, and crayons, etc. pour out all over the halls.

A boy darting down the hall, was running into Kya and Miki directly. There was no time to move out of the way. The boy leaped into the air, and tackled Miki down to the floor. While he was in mid-air, he knocked Kya's books, folders, and pencils to the floor. Papers spilled out all of the the place. While Kya was picking them up, the boy stomped on her fingers. Then, he stomped on Miki's leg and ran off. Kya and Miki yelped in pain as th injuries occurred.

"Miki?" Kya called, "Are you okay?"

"That asshole!" She shouted.

"I know." Kya said, "He got me pretty bad."

"Me too." Miki said, trying to stand up, "I don't know if I can stand up."

Kya put down the mess of papers she had tried to pick up off of the floor, to rush over to her friend, and help her stand up. When Miki stood up successfully, Kya threw her arm under Miki's and walked her across the hall to the bathroom.

"Where does it hurt the most?" Kya asked.

Miki pointed to her calf, "There. Is it bruised?"

"Yeah." Kya said, "Hopefully, I can make it a little better. My mom only started teaching me how to heal myself just last year. I'm still a little new to it."

"As long as it helps me, and makes it feel better for the rest of the day, It doesn't matter how good your healing is." Miki said.

Kya shrugged in response, as she waterbended the water from the sink, and used it to heal Miki's leg. Miki watched as the clear water glowed a light blue color. Then, she noticed how Kya's pinky-finger was bruised, and crooked.

"Hey, are your hands okay?" Miki asked, "They look pretty beat up."

"That prick stomped on my hand pretty hard." Kya said, "I'll be fine. I'll just heal myself."

Miki shrugged.

"It's not like it's the first time this happened." Kya said.

"Yeah..." Miki sighed.

"I meant like outside of school." Kya said.

"Me too." Miki said.

"Oh..." Kya said, her tone was sympathetic, but she also wanted to know why her friend sounded so upset. Miki could tell by her friend's tone that she felt sorry for her, and knowing Kya and how she could be impatient at times, Miki figured she wanted some sort of explanation.

"My father." Miki said.

* * *

"Have you seen this man?" Lin asked.

That's what she had been doing all day. She'd be walking around the city, all alone, flashing people picture of The Duke, her father. She was curious to know if other people had different made up stories about him. She needed to know what really happened to her father. She didn't know if she should believe her mother, or not.

"Aren't you a little too young to be wandering the streets alone, kid?" A deep voice called out.

"I just want to know if anyone else knew this man." Lin responded.

"Oh, The Duke?" The man asked, "Yeah, I knew about him."

Lin's face lit up with joy, "Really?"

"Yeah..." The man said, "Why don't you follow me. We'll sit down and I'll tell you some stories I know about him."

"Wow..." Lin said, "It'd be an honor. Thank you, sir."

Without even thinking about what her mother had warned her, she just wandered off further into the city with a complete stranger.

* * *

"Hi mom!" Kya had greeted Katara when she left the front doors of the school.

"Hi, sweetie." Katara said, taking her daughter's school bag, "How was school?"

_Absolutely terrible. I get bullied every single day, and I most likely have a broken pinky._

Kya could never admit the truth about being bullied to her mother. It would only make he seem weak, and seem like a 'taddle-tale'.

"It was fine." She lied.

"Glad to hear that." Katara said with a smile.

* * *

Later that night, Kya had come into her parents' bedroom. She didn't knock, she didn't ask to come in, she just walked in. Lucky for her sake, her parents weren't doing anything that young eyes shouldn't be seeing. Kya crawled into her parents bed, and stared at them.

"What's wrong, Kya?" Aang asked.

Kya burst out into tears.

"Hey, hey!" Aang said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, "What's wrong, honey?"

"You can't make me go back to school," Kya said through tears.

"Why?" Katara asked, "What's going on at school?"

"Nothing..." Kya lied.

"Kya, if there's something going on, please, tell us." Aang said.

"Why would you come in here sobbing, if there was 'nothing' going on in school?" Katara asked, "When I asked how your day was when I picked you up, you seemed perfectly fine."

Kya shook her head.

"Kya," Aang said softly, "What's going on?"

"I hate it!" She shouted, "I hate school, I hate learning! I hate everything!"

Aang and Katara exchanged worried looks. And then, Aang figured out what he should do. He figured that Kya just wanted to talk to Katara alone, without him in the room. He knew the relationship between Katara and Kya was always a little more tight than the one between him and Kya. Aang also Kya as a mini-version of Katara.

"I'm going to go get a glass of water." Aang said, "Any of you want anything?"

Kya shook her head, and Katara shrugged, "Not really."

"Be right back." Aang said, trying not to make it noticeable that he just wanted to give his wife and daughter as much privacy as they could get.

"Kya, now will you tell me what's going on?" Katara asked.

"Nothing is going on mom!" Kya said, beginning to cry again.

"Why are you crying?" Katara asked.

"I don't know." Kya lied.

Katara sighed, then lowered her voice, "Did you get your period or something?"

"No!" Kya said defensively, "No, no, no!"

"I'll be right back." Katara said, rushing down the hall to get Aang.

When they both returned, Kya was still sitting on their bed, crying.

"Sweetie, why are you so upset?" Aang said, "And why wont you tell us?"

"Something happened in school." Kya said.

"I thought you said nothing was going on in school..." Aang said.

"I lied." Kya said.

"Why would you lie to us about that?" Katara said.

"Because it's embarrassing." Kya said.

"What's going on?" Aang repeated.

"Well me and my only friend..." Kya started crying.

This already sounds bad enough as it is. Only friend. Poor girl.

Kya had wrapped her arms around her father, and was sobbing into his chest.

"Are you going to finish?" Katara asked.

She sighed, her breath shaking.

"Me and my only friend are always getting teased and beat up in the hallways." Kya finally said.

"Beat up?!" Katara shouted in disbelief.

Kya lifted up her left hand, revealing her swollen and darkly bruised finger.

"I think it's broken." Kya said.

"Kya, why didn't you come to us sooner?!" Katara asked, jumping up from the bed to get her pouch full of water she used specifically for healing.

"Because I wanted to try handling the problem on my own." Kya admitted. It was half true.

"And you waited 'til things got from bad to worse to tell us?" Katara sounded disappointed, but also worried.

"I'm sorry," Kya began to cry again.

"We're just happy that you told us before it could become an even bigger problem than it already is." Katara said, healing her daughter's finger. Katara was sure that Kya's finger was broken. It was too late for her healing abilities to make a big difference, but it brought down most of the swelling.

"Your finger is broken, for sure." Katara said, "There's not much I can do besides wrap it up, and let it heal on its own."

"Thank you, mom." Kya said, jumping into her mother's arms, and wrapping her arms around Katara's torso.

"You're welcome, sweetie." Katara said, hugging her back.

"Next time something like this happens, tell us." Aang said, resting his hand on his daughter's shoulder.

"I will." Kya said, "I promise."

* * *

The man that led Lin through the city to the place where they would sit down and talk, seemed pretty shady in Lin's point of view. But it was too late for Lin to turn back. They man had grabbed her wrist, which had made her jump, and pulled her inside an old wooden building. He tossed Lin to the floor, and locked the door.

"Stupid kid." The man said, "I don't know anything about that man."

Lin gasped. What had she gotten herself into?

"Who are you?" Lin asked.

"The name's Yakone." The man said with an evil snarl.

Yakone. Where had she heard the name Yakone before?

"Y-Yakone?" Lin asked.

"Yes." Yakone had replied, with an evil smile, "Republic City's most wanted and dangerous criminal."

Lin was in some real trouble. She knew she had heard the name before. Her mother would always mention him, and how he was almost impossible to track him down and lock him up. This man was known for his unique powers of water bending. This man could blood bend freely, whenever he wanted, without the use of the full moon. Blood bending, controlling the water in another person's body. This could only be done when the moon was full, when waterbenders' bending was at its peak.

"Why did you bring me here?" Lin asked.

"Since you're only a child, I'll go easy on you and dumb things down for you." Yakone said, "I am aiming to get rid of the Avatar, and take over the city to have it as my own. But first, I need to get his closest family and friends out of the way - to make it easier to get him."

He was circling Lin slowly, in circles, like a eagle-hawk soaring in circles, eyeing its prey - Waiting for the right time to swoop in and snatch its prey up in the blink of an eye. Lin was a cold, sweaty, and a nervous mess. Her frightened face had drained its normal skin tone, and became pale white. She figured it was obvious how scared she was, because she listened closely to the words that came out of Yakone's mouth.

"Don't worry, kid." Yakone said, "I'm not going to hurt you unless I have to."

"Unless you have to?" Lin asked, she tried to sit up, but her arms trembled, and she collapsed on the cold ground.

"If you behave, do what I say, and cooperate with me," Yakone said, he stopped circling her like an eagle-hawk to stand in his footsteps and look Lin directly into her light green eyes, "You have nothing to worry about."

"You honestly think you can take over the city?" Lin asked, "Even better, get rid of the Avatar?"

"You think I can't?" Yakone asked, eyeing her cautiously.

"Yes." Lin responded, "The city would never follow you, or have you as its ruler."

"Well, sweetheart, I can make them." Yakone said, smiling slyly.

Lin hated when any adult would call her nicknames like honey, sweetie, sweetheart, sugar, etc. She had a first name for a reason, and that's what they would call her. No exceptions. Lin looked up at him.

"Perhaps, you'd like me to give you an example." Yakone said, rolling up his sleeves.

Before Lin could disagree, she already knew what was going on. She could no longer control any single limb in her body. Her body rose from the ground, twisted in ways that she never knew her body could twist in, and in ways that her body shouldn't be bent or twisted. She yelped in pain, and tears stung her eyes.

"Stop!" She cried.

He released his bloodbending grip on her, making her crash to the ground forcefully. She grunted in pain, rubbing her aching spine. She felt too weak to sit up, so fell onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She could just imagine the new headlines of Republic City's news paper:

Chief Bei Fong's Daughter, Lin Bei Fong, Age 8, Murdered.

* * *

Kya was relieved that it was Friday. She couldn't wait to enjoy her weekend off from school. She looked up at the clock, and she was in her last class of the day. Just forty five more minutes and she would be free for the weekend.

"Good afternoon, class." Her history teacher walked into the noisy classroom, "I know it's Friday, and you're all eager to get out of here. But we have a very special visitor coming today."

The class fell silent. They all stared at their teacher. Never had they ever had a "special visitor" visit their classroom.

"Well since we've been learning a lot about the past of the Earth Kingdom, and its geography, I figured instead of reading those boring textbooks, we could have someone visit and personally tell you about what happened all of those years ago."

The class exchanged puzzled looks.

"There is a very complicated story behind the reason why Kyoshi Island is its own Island." The teacher had continued.

_Kyoshi Island..._

The teacher was still talking, "Which is why we're lucky to have the Avatar visit our classroom today to tell you the story behind Kyoshi Island."

Everyone's attention turned to Kya when the teacher said the words Avatar and visit. Kya's face burned, and she just wanted to shrink and shrink until she could no longer be seen.

Avatar Aang had introduced himself to the class. Kya was just glad that he didn't mention Kya's name, or anyone else's name. Then he got straight to the point, actually it wasn't him who had gotten to the point. It was pretty amazing once everyone in the classroom had realized what was going on. There was a strong gust of air blown throughout the classroom, and then there stood a very tall lady, with her face painted white, and red winged eye makeup.

"I am Avatar Kyoshi." The lady had said.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock.

"During my life, the 46th Earth King's rule was unpopular among the populace of the Earth Kingdom. Using this to his advantage, a warlord named Chin launched a war to conquer the continent. He was successful until he reached the peninsula where I'd lived. When he refused to listen to me, I confronted him and separated the peninsula from the mainland through a combination of all four bending arts, forming Kyoshi Island and thereby protecting my homeland from subsequent threats such as the warlord. An indignant Chin was left standing on the edge of a cliff, which then crumbled beneath his feet, causing him to fall into the sea, where he subsequently drowned. His death ushered the world into a great era of peace." Kyoshi stated.

Then, Avatar Kyoshi disappeared in thin air. Aang's moral appearance came back to the mortal world, a wave of exhaustion and lack of energy rushed through his body. It took him a short minute to regain that energy, but when he did, he asked the class, "Is there anything else you would like to know?"

A kid sitting in the back had asked how the 100 year war started, and how it ended. Aang needed to connect to Roku, and to do so, he needed to focus. But something had interrupted his spiritual connect to Avatar Roku. It was a vision.

All Aang could see was a young girl with jet black hair, pale skin, and light green eyes crying for help. And behind her stood the most wanted criminal in the whole entire Earth Kingdom. Yakone.

Aang opened his eyes.

"I'm sorry, but there is something very urgent going on." Aang said, "I couldn't connect to Avatar Roku for him to explain the start of the war, because I was interrupted by a vision. A close family member of mine is in danger, and I need to help them."

"Thank you for your time, Avatar Aang." The teacher had said quickly, "We're thankful for you to come by here today."

He bowed down to her, and left the room.

* * *

"Toph!" Aang had shouted, "Thank goodness you're here."

"Jeez, Aang, what's going on?!" She asked, "Your heart is beating like mad."

"Long story short," Aang said, "Lin is in trouble. Yakone captured her."

"Yakone?!" Toph screamed in disbelief, jumping out of her chair.

"We have to save her, quickly!" Aang said, waving a hand ordering her to follow him.

"Officer Song, and Saikhan come with me." Toph commanded, "The rest of you secure the headquarters and run a security sweep."

The officers saluted her withe agreement and respect and went off to do what they were told do.

* * *

"You know," Toph said, "It'd be easier to find Lin if you knew where she was being held."

"I got a glimpse of a wooden house."Aang said, "And from the looks of it, it's very shady and beaten up."

"Well that's a better description than what you first told me." Toph said.

Aang shrugged, and continued walking down the back roads in the city. He figured there would be some of Yakone's men posted around here, but there weren't.

"Do you think that's the place?" Toph asked, pointing directly at beaten up wooden house.

"Only one way to find out." Aang said, speeding up to the door, with Toph and her officers behind him.

"Knock it down." Toph said.

With one blast of air, the door swung open and bumped against the wall. The vibrations caused a wrinkled paper framed in glass to fall off of a high shelf posted near a window. The glass scattered everywhere, all over the floor.

"Be careful where you step, Chief." Officer Song had warned her, "There's glass all over the floor."

"Not a problem." Aang said, airbending a light gust of air to blow the pieces of glass to the corner of the room.

"Do you see anything, Toph?" Aang asked.

"Yeah." Toph said, "She's in here."

"Where?" Aang asked.

"Right over-" She was interrupted by her own screams of pain.

Aang turned quickly on his heal to see Toph's arms to be jerking around, and twisting oddly. He gasped, and looked all around the room for any signs of Yakone. But as he turned his body to face the left corner of the room, he lost control of his limbs. Yakone had his harsh bloodbending grip on everyone in the room.

"If you want to save the girl," Yakone said, appearing out of the darkness, forcing Lin to walk beside him, "I suggest you surrender, and let me own this city."

"That will never happen." Aang struggled to talk through the pain of being controlled by another living person.

"Very well." Yakone said.

He grabbed Lin's arm, swung her around, and threw her to the floor. Aang had gasped, and he watched his own niece get tortured right in front of his own eyes. There was nothing he could do. He felt so helpless and weak.

He forced her to sit up on her knees and arch her back, backwards. He wrapped his arm across Lin's chest, grabbed the knife out of his pocket with his other hand, and brought it close to her face. She had already had one cut on her right cheek. The blood from that cut still trickled down her face, off of her chin, and some of the blood had leaked down her neck, depending on how her head was positioned. He slit another long cut next to the one that was already there. She screamed in pain, and tears raced down her face. Tears that leaked down into her cuts, and stung. The stinging sensation only brought more tears to her eyes. Some of the tears had washed off the blood off of her chin.

Yakone slammed her face to the ground, knocking her unconscious.

There was no turning back. There was no were to run. There was no escape.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	7. 21 Again

******Aang defeats Yakone, restoring balance to the city once again. Tenzin is released from the hospital. For now, everything is back to normal. In 'celebration', Sokka takes Aang out for a couple of drinks.**

**I'm not writing the whole Yakone and courthouse scene. We already saw it, I don't feel the need to write it. Though, I am writing out my head canon that happens _after_ the defeat of Yakone.**

**Just like how it is in America, the legal drinking age in Republic City is 21. My head canon. Oh, and the names of their beer is the same as ours. Not very creative, but...**

**So, I think it's pretty important that you guys read what I'm about to say. I have no specific schedule or anything for writing these chapters. Since I'm still in school, getting my school work and homework done is my main concern. Even though It's my last year of middle school, and the amount of work is nothing compared to what students in high school get, there still is a lot of work that just takes up a lot of my time. So, I hope you understand that whenever I get the chance to write, I take it. Sometimes I get a small writers block and just don't feel like writing at all, but most of the time, that doesn't happen. Anyway, continuing on with the story...**

**UPDATE: I am no longer the ONLY person using this account. My friend is going to write a fanfiction (ATLA) that will connect to this one. It's a fic of the Gaang before any of them had kids.**

* * *

**Chapter 7 - 21 Again**

* * *

"How was work today, sweetie?" Katara asked, setting the table for dinner.

Aang rubbed his aching head, "It was one hell of a day," he grunted.

The painful sensation of his limbs being bent and twisted in ways they shouldn't be, and never knew that his body could bend like that, made his muscles ache. He'd pulled a muscle in his back, his neck ached, and his head ached but mainly from stress. Katara placed the last plate down on the table, and walked over to Aang. Standing behind him, she placed her hands on both of his muscular shoulders and soothingly massaged them. He bit back a moan, and gently closed his eyes. Katara moved her hands down to his chest and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Why'd you stop?" He asked, opening his eyes.

"Because dinner is almost ready, and you're enjoying it too much." Katara teased him.

"It's not like it's something I can control." Aang said, throwing her a little bit of an embarrassed look.

"I know, I'm just teasing you." Katara said with a giggle.

Aang got up from his seat at the table, walked over to Katara, wrapped his arms around her, and whispered in her ear, "I still love you, no matter what."

Katara rested her head on his shoulder and whispered, "Me too."

Aang kissed the top of her head, breathing in her scent while doing so.

"Any plans tonight?" Katara asked.

"Yeah." Aang said, "Sokka and I are going out to the bar. To 'celebrate' that we finally got Yakone locked up."

"I'm happy to hear about Yakone," Katara said, "But, I don't want you coming home wasted, or coming home too late."

"Katara," He said, "I'm not going to get 'wasted'."

"Good." Katara said, "But you wont come home too late either, right?"

"I can't promise you anything." Aang said.

Katara frowned, "Well, you better be back here before I wake up."

"That depends on _when_ you wake up." Aang said running his fingers through her long hair.

"Any time after 8 o'clock." Katara said.

"Yeah, I should be home by then." Aang said.

"Should?" Katara asked, raising an eye brow at him.

"Yes, should." Aang said.

"I just don't want you to be out all night drinking, Aang." Katara said.

"I wont." Aang said, "I'm not a heavy drinker. I'm not like Sokka."

Katara laughed, "That's good."

"You might end up having another kid for tonight, because Toph thinks she wants to tag along." Aang said.

"And you guys get to have all of the fun..." Katara joked.

"Do you want to drop the kids off to be with Suki?" Aang asked.

"Aang, I was joking!" Katara said, swatting at his arm, "You know I don't drink."

"You did when you turned 21." Aang said.

"First of all," Katara started.

Aang laughed at her.

"That was 20 years ago. And second of all, we didn't have kids back then." Katara said.

"20 years ago wasn't that long ago." Aang said.

"I really hope you're joking." Katara said with a laugh.

"No, I'm serious." Aang said.

"You act like 20 years ago was just last week." Katara said.

"Because I still see you as a beautiful 20 year old young lady." Aang said, "And that will never change."

"Why do you always have to do that?" Katara asked, blushing, and poking at his chest.

"Do what?" Aang said.

"Making me love you even more when you say all of those nice things." Katara said.

"But it's true." Aang said.

"Aang, you're doing it again!" She said, blushing even more than she already was.

* * *

After the defeat of Yakone, Aang had the weekend off from work, meaning he had the opportunity to spend his entire weekend with his family. Aang and his three kids sat around the table as Katara finished up her cooking for dinner.

"I just got home, and I'm tired," Tenzin sighed, "Can you two please just shut up?"

As usual, his two older siblings were picking on him.

"It's entertaining." Bumi said with a laugh.

"You just take everything too seriously," Kya said, "Which makes it more fun."

"I beg to differ!" Tenzin argued, crossing his arms.

Bumi started to laugh at his brother. Tenzin would always take everything seriously. He was too wise for a kid, and both Kya and Bumi felt like he needed to be more of a laid-back kid and have more fun.

"Tenzin, we're just messing with you," Kya said, "And when you say weird stuff like that, it just makes it easier to pick on you and laugh at you."

"That's enough you two." Katara said, finishing up making breakfast.

"Oh, and speaking of crushes," Tenzin said, just to change the topic, "How's Arnook?"

"Ugh," Kya groaned, "I thought you'd forgotten that I ever mentioned him."

"You didn't," Tenzin said, "Lin did."

"Even better," Kya said sarcastically, "And where did she hear it from?"

"Me..." Tenzin said, sighing.

"Wait..." Kya said, "Where did you get that idea from in the first place."

"_I _heard it from someone else in this room." Tenzin said, shooting Bumi a look, making it obvious that he heard it from his older brother.

"Hey don't look at me!" Bumi said, trying to sound innocent.

"What ever," Kya huffed, "I don't even care about it anymore."

"So, do you still like this boy?" Aang asked, joining in on the conversation.

"Not really." Kya said, she sounded almost like she was disappointed.

"Not really?" Aang asked.

"I only liked him because he was the only boy that didn't look at me like I was completely crazy, or because they thought I was all stuck-up and snobby because I'm the Avatar's daughter," Kya said, "The point is, he didn't seem to notice me. At all."

"And the last time we asked you about this boy, Arnook," Aang began, "You immediately shot down the question..."

"Because, I was embarrassed." Kya admitted.

"There's nothing wrong with having a crush on a boy, sweetie." Katara said.

"I know," Kya said, "But I knew that I would get teased by these two." She pointed to Tenzin and Bumi.

"I wouldn't!" Tenzin protested, "I'm not like that. Unlike _somebody._"

They both turned to look at Bumi, but Tenzin was trying to point out Kya _and_ Bumi.

"Jeez," Bumi said, throwing his hands up, "You're both targeting me, making me look like I'm some bad guy."

"Anyway," Aang had said, trying to avoid getting his kids into another argument, "How come you never came to me or your mother for advice?"

"Advice?" Kya said, with a chuckle, "No offense, but I don't know if going to you two would be the best option. I mean, you only dated each other..."

"That's not completely true..." Katara said.

"What?" Aang had asked quickly.

"Oh snap." Bumi said, laughing.

They all stared at Katara.

"Who else did you date, mom?" Kya asked.

"A boy named Jet." Katara said.

Aang snorted, "Oh please, you went out with Jet for like a day."

"Yeah, but it still counts." Katara said.

"Dad's jealous!" Bumi said, laughing at his father.

Even Tenzin couldn't resist a laugh.

"_Please_, that was years ago." Aang said, rolling his eyes, "And plus, Jet died."

"Oh, so did you kill him so you could have mom all to yourself?" Kya teased.

That even got Katara laughing.

"No, I didn't kill him." Aang said, mocking his daughter's tone, "Actually, he was killed by a man who was the head of the Dai Li, in Ba Sing Se."

"It was a joke, Dad." Kya said, chuckling.

"I knew you were joking," He said with a small chuckle, "But I was just telling you how he _actually_ died."

Katara walked over to the table to serve breakfast, she placed the serving plates and bowls down on the center of the table.

"Jealous or not, I still love you." Katara said, giving Aang a kiss on the cheek.

"Thank you." He teased, kissing her back on the cheek.

Kya cringed at her parents and their "oogies" as their Uncle Sokka called it. Tenzin just looked around the room, acting like he didn't even notice. Bumi just sat there with a unimpressed look on his face.

"You two done yet?" Bumi asked.

Katara rolled her eyes, and took her usual seat, next to Aang.

"So," Aang said, "How's everything going on in school, Kya?"

Kya placed the spoon back into the bowl of rice after dumping a pile of it onto her plate. She let out an aggravated sigh.

"I'm just glad it's Friday." She said.

"Is everything still that bad?" Katara asked.

"Not that bad," Kya answered, "But I still get teased."

"Is that why you always pick on me?" Tenzin asked.

"No," Kya said, "I tease you because you're my brother and I'm always joking around when I tease you. But when I get teased in school, it's actually more like I'm being bullied... Which is why I only have one friend."

"Having one friend is better than none." Tenzin said.

"You have Lin though." Kya said.

"I know, I was just saying that to make you feel better." Tenzin said.

She nudged his side with her elbow, "Thanks."

"Yeah..." Tenzin said, rubbing his side, "And thanks for that."

"Your brother is right, though." Aang said, "And why don't you invite your friend over for dinner sometime?"

"I don't know..." Kya said, "Her parents are really strict and rude. They hardly ever let her leave the house."

"Oh." Aang said.

"And she has a really bad relationship with her dad." Kya said, "Apparently he abuses her and stuff."

"Oh my gosh, that's terrible!" Katara said.

"Yeah, but thankfully, she doesn't see her father anymore." Kya said, "I'm just glad I don't have parents like hers."

Katara and Aang smiled.

* * *

When their three kids were asleep and tucked into bed, Katara and Aang took a shower. They figured since they didn't know when Sokka and Toph would be coming over, they wouldn't do anything else. And Katara could only imagine how humiliating it would be for her brother, or close friend to walk in on them.

After their shower, Aang and Katara has decided to lay in bed together until Sokka and Toph arrived. Katara snuggled up against Aang, resting her head on his muscular chest.

"Wait..." She said, sitting up.

"What?" Aang asked.

Katara grabbed the end of Aang's shirt and began to take it off. Aang knew what she wanted to do, or at least he thought he did. Aang grabbed the end of her shirt, and attempted to then take her shirt off, but she swatted his hand away.

"What?" Aang asked, disappointed.

Katara pressed her palm down on Aang's chest, forcing him to lay back down.

"Where are you going with this, sweetie?" He asked.

She then wrapped her arm around his waist, and placed the other on his chest. She nuzzled her head gently onto his chest, pressing kisses upon his muscular chest and abdomen. Then, rested her head on his chest, and soothingly caressed the surface of his body, starting from the top of his chest, down to his waist. He wrapped an arm around her and began stroking her hair. She closed her eyes, and eventually the soothing sensation of Aang stroking her hair made her drift off into slumber.

Toph had arrived to the house with Sokka, who was carrying a sleeping Lin over his shoulder.

"Is their bedroom door shut?" Sokka asked Toph.

"Yep." Toph answered.

"Yeah, you can go get Aang." Sokka said, "I'm not walking in on that. You're lucky you can't see."

"I'm not always so lucky," Toph said, "But fine, I'll go get him."

Toph walked down the hallway, and pounded her fist on Katara and Aang's bedroom door.

"You two can have fun getting laid later." Toph yelled, "Aang, get your ass out here. We expected you to be dressed and ready!"

There was no answer.

"Don't make me knock this damn door down, because I will if I really have to!" Toph demanded.

There was still no answer. She Toph could hardly hear anything from the other side of the door. She used her earth bending, to knock off the locked door. She walked into their room, and noticed that they were busy making out on the bed.

"Good lord, I swear this door is sound proof." Toph said.

"Toph!" Aang yelled, pulling himself off of Katara.

"Haven't you heard of knocking?" Katara asked.

"I pounded on that door for about 5 minutes!" Toph said, pointing to the wall, thinking she was pointing to the door, "And I probably woke up your entire house..."

"Good job." Aang said, sarcastically.

"Good job on deciding to get laid minutes before we got here." Toph said.

Katara rolled her eyes at her.

"Chop chop!" Toph demanded,clapping her hands, "I didn't plan on being held up an extra thirty minutes because you two love birds decided to make love to one another right before we we're about to go out!"

"You never even gave me a specific time." Aang said.

"What ever." Toph sighed.

"Now can you please get out of our room so I can get dressed?" Aang asked.

"Sure, but it's not like I would be able to see anything." Toph said.

Toph walked out of their room, closing the door behind her. She walked back out to Sokka and Lin, who were now on the couch, and Kya had joined them.

"I think you woke up the entire house." Sokka said, "Good job, Toph."

"It was the only way I could get-" Toph noticed that Kya was there, and stopped in mid sentence, "Oh, hi Kya... Sorry for waking you."

"That's okay." She said, pausing to yawn, "Why are you guys here so late, anyway?"

"Your dad, Uncle, and I are going out to celebrate the fact that we finally got Yakone locked up." Toph said.

Kya laughed, "My dad is going to go out drinking?"

"I think it would be more mind blowing if your mom came." Toph said.

"True..." Kya said, laughing, "But neither of them go out to drink."

"No, trust me." Sokka said, "They used to. Before they had you three."

"Seriously?" Kya asked.

"Yep. Seriously." Sokka said, " But not as much as we did." He pointed to Toph.

"But don't you have work in the morning?" Kya asked.

"Got tomorrow off." Toph answered.

"Nice." Kya said.

"Yep." Toph said, lazily falling back onto the couch, sitting next to Kya, "First day off in about 2 years."

"Are you serious?" Kya asked in disbelief.

"No," Toph said with a chuckle, "But it surely feels like it."

"You guys ready?" Aang asked, Katara walking behind him.

"About time!" Toph teased.

Aang rolled his eyes.

"Looking snazzy, dad." Kya joked.

Aang looked the same as he ever did whenever he was going out. The only difference there was, was that he wasn't wearing his cloak.

"Why are you awake, Kya?" Katara asked.

"My mother," Lin said, "Practically woke up the entire town, when she was yelling at Uncle Aang."

"I don't know if Tenzin and Bumi are up," Kya said, "But I didn't know _what_ was going on, because I knew that wasn't dad's voice, or yours, that would be yelling _that_ loud... For any reason."

"Well, why don't you show Lin to the guest room, and head back to bed yourself." Aang suggested, but he meant it more as a demand.

"Fine..." Kya sighed, but she really didn't mind. She was already getting tired again.

Kya jumped off of the couch to give Aang a hug. After a short hug and a kiss on the head, Aang checked in on the four kids who were in bed, two of them still awake. Then, Aang, Sokka, and Toph headed out to the bar.

* * *

"I'll take one glass of cactus juice." Sokka told the waitress.

"Cactus juice again?" Aang asked.

"It doesn't effect me like it did all of those years ago in the desert, man." Sokka said.

He was on his second glass, and just ordered his third. He was already getting drunk.

"C'mon Aang." Toph said, "Just have a glass."

"Fine." Aang said, and then he turned to the waitress, "I'll have one glass of cactus juice."

"Yeah, Aang!" Toph cheered, "Livin' the life!"

"And how many have you already had?" Aang asked Toph.

"I'm already on my second bottle of corona." Toph said.

"Trust me, after your third drink is when the fun starts," Sokka said.

Aang wanted to say 'But this isn't the kind of fun I prefer.' But he didn't.

"I don't know if I'll have more than 2 drinks." Aang said, instead.

"Oh come on!" Sokka said, "What's stopping you?"

"I have three kids at home," Aang said, "And I promised Katara that I wouldn't get 'wasted'."

"I'm sure my sister will understand that you just wanted to have some fun." Sokka said.

"You obviously don't know her as well as I do." Aang said, regretting it immediately.

Sokka stopped in mid-sip of his drink, "What?"

"I didn't mean it!" Aang said quickly.

"Aang, I've known my sister for my whole life; more than you have. I think I know her better than you," Sokka said, almost ready to beat Aang up.

"I told you, I didn't mean it," Aang said firmly.

"Here's your drink." The waitress said.

Aang shoved Sokka back into his seat, and rested his hands on the surface of the table.

"Thanks, ma'am," Aang said.

* * *

"It's three A.M," Lin said to Kya, "Don't you think they should be back by now?"

The nine year old earth bender and the twelve year old waterbender sat on the floor of the Kya's bedroom, across from each other. Either one of them could sleep, and no one else was awake. They figured they'd talk all night until they fell asleep.

"What time does your mom usually come home whenever she goes out drinking?" Kya asked.

"Usually between 1 A.M and 2 A.M," Lin said, "Because of me, and/or because she has work in the morning."

"Do you stay up the whole time, whenever she goes out?" Kya asked.

"Yeah," Lin admitted, "I don't like being all alone in my house."

"Oh..." Kya said slowly.

"Yeah, which is why I'm glad that you were up." Lin said, "Someone to talk to, and hang out with."

Kya smiled, "I'm glad you're awake, too."

"So, what should we do now?" Lin asked.

"Are you hungry?" Kya asked, "We could sneak some food in here. I do it all the time."

"Sure, I could go for something to eat." Lin said, hopping up from her seat.

The two young girls quietly tip toed down the hallway, and entered the kitchen. They each paced back and forth, looking through cabinet after cabinet. Kya opened the fridge, grabbed a glass of milk and set it on the counter. Lin found a jar of cookies and a separate bowl of pretzels. Suddenly, they heard a roar that belonged to a sky bison.

"They're home!" Kya shouted in a whisper.

"What do we do?" Lin asked.

"Take our stuff and run!" Kya said.

Lin grabbed the bowl of pretzels, and started running toward the hallway.

"Come on!" She said, motioning to Kya to follow her.

"Hold on!" Kya said.

Kya was holding two glasses of milk, and was trying to grab the jar of cookies. When she moved her hand to reposition the glass of milk, she knocked the jar over, making it fall to the floor with a loud crashing sound. Kya gasped, as glass shattered all over the floor. She attempted to run, but a large chunk of glass stabbed her foot. She fell straight to the floor.

"Kya, are you okay?" Lin asked.

"I got glass in my foot!" She shouted quietly, trying not to burst into tears.

Lin rushed to her side, and helped her stand up.

"Don't put weight on it, you'll only make the glass go in further." Lin instructed, but it was stuff Kya already knew.

Lin grabbed the glasses of milk, put one in the bowl, and carried the other in her free hand. Kya hobbled on one foot, down the hall, and into her room. Lin set down the bowl of pretzels, and glasses of milk on her night stand. She knelt down beside Kya, attempting to help, but Kya waved her hands away.

"I know what to do, Lin," Kya said, "It's okay. Thank you anyway."

Then, the front door opened, and they heard Aang and Toph stumble into the house.

"Crap!" Kya said with frustration, "What do we do now?"

"Can't you hear them?" Lin asked, "They're too drunk to notice anything."

"Wait!" Aang said to Toph just as they were about to walk into the kitchen.

Toph laughed mindlessly, "What?"

"There's glass on the floor!" Aang said.

Toph kept laughing, which made Aang laugh.

"We have shoes on," Toph said.

"Right..." Aang said.

"I'm off to bed." Toph said.

"You don't even live here!" Aang said, laughing again.

"I do tonight." Toph said, "I'll go into the guest room with Lin."

"That works." Aang said with a shrug.

"You go have fun with Sugar Queen." Toph said, winking.

"Oh, I will." Aang said, laughing.

Kya had heard every work they said. All she did was shudder at the thoughts that ran through her head.

* * *

Aang had climbed into bed, almost completely naked. He wrapped an arm around Katara's waist, and cuddled up to her backside. She turned around, noticing his presence.

"Hi, sweetie," He whispered to her, putting his other hand on her shoulder.

"Hi," She said, half awake half asleep.

Aang slowly moved his hand from her shoulder, to her chest, attempting to cup her breasts.

"No," She said, shoving his hand away.

He frowned, and turned onto his back. Katara turned onto her side, opposite of the side she was laying on before, and scooted close to Aang. She wrapped an arm around his torso, and rested her head on his abdomen.

"Oh, so I can't cuddle up to you, but you can just cuddle up to me?" Aang teased.

"Yep." Katara said with a chuckle, "So, how was your night out?"

"It was pretty fun." Aang said, "But Sokka got wasted."

"What about Toph?" Katara asked.

"Eh, I don't know." Aang said, "She decided to crash with Lin in the guest room."

As Katara opened her mouth to speak, she was interrupted by Toph, shouting down the hallway.

"Lin!" She screamed, "Get your ass to bed!"

"I guess I'll go check what's going on." Katara said.

"You better be back." Aang said, winking.

"Not tonight, Aang." Katara said, "But I will be back."

"Kya, why didn't you tell me you got glass in your foot sooner?" Katara asked.

Kya laid on her stomach on her bed, while Katara was busy trying to the glass out of her daughter's foot with a pair of tweezers.

"Because you were asleep," Kya said, "And then dad came home, and I didn't want go in your room after that..."

"Which is why you always knock," Katara said.

"I also don't want to hear what ever you two are doing," Kya said, shuddering.

"You sound so much like your Uncle right now," Katara mumbled.

* * *

The next morning, Katara made breakfast as she would any other morning. The only people at the table, so far, were Lin and Kya. Then, Bumi came out from the hallway, yawning and stretching.

"Good, I was just about to wake you up," Katara said.

"Wow, so you'd disrupt my sleep but not Tenzin's?" Bumi teased.

"Tenzin's already awake," Katara said.

"No he isn't." Bumi said, siting down next to Kya.

"Isn't he in the dojo?" Katara asked.

"Nope." Bumi said, "He's asleep."

"What about your father?" Katara asked.

"Oh, I didn't even check." Bumi said.

Suddenly, Toph came from the hallway, groaning, "Ugh, I don't even know how or why I'm here."

"Good morning, mom!" Lin said, jumping out of her seat to hug Toph.

"Hi, Lin," Toph said, hugging her back.

Lin let go, and ran back to her seat. Toph plopped into the seat on Lin's left, and began rubbing her aching head.

"I'm going to go wake up your father," Katara said to Kya and Bumi.

"Want me to keep an eye on breakfast?" Kya asked.

"Just flip the pancakes every once in a while." Katara called out, as she entered the hall way.

"Sweetie, are you awake?" Katara said, closing their bedroom door behind her.

Aang didn't respond. She tiptoed to the side of the bed where he was still in deep slumber, and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek.

"Wake up, sweetie." Katara said, stroking his beard.

Aang slowly opened his gray eyes, and smiled once he saw Katara, "Good morning."

"Wake up, Aang." She said, "You're the last one to get up."

"Are you serious?" He said, sitting up quickly.

"Yes," She said, laughing, "Now get dressed, and come out into the kitchen for breakfast."

Instead of obeying, he pulled her closer to him, attempting to make-out with her. But, she pulled away quickly.

"I'll see you in the kitchen." Katara said, giving him a peck on the cheek.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	8. Seasons Greetings

**I'm sorry that it took long for me to get Chapter 7 finished and uploaded... I hope we don't run into the same conflict here. But, I do have an excuse. I was sick for a couple of days, and the last few days, I just didn't feel like writing.**

**Okay, after this chapter I'm either going to go on hiatus, or upload more. School is really really tearing me apart.**

**My head canon, in the avatar world Christmas is celebrated much like how we celebrate Thanksgiving today. Big meals, family gatherings, no presents. **

**A month later, the Gaang and family celebrate Christmas. Bumi finds a love interest, Tenzin and Lin finally acknowledge that they have crushes on each other, and a funny dinner Christmas Eve evening. **

* * *

**Chapter 8 - Seasons Greetings**

* * *

"Good morning," Kya sang, as she skipped into the kitchen.

It'd been the first day of their holiday break off of school. Kya, who had been a victim of bullying, was more than happy to finally be off from school for two and a half weeks. Their break was supposed to start tomorrow, but since last night it snowed way too much, they canceled school for the day.

"Good morning, sweetie," Katara said, as she made breakfast.

"Where's everyone else?" Kya asked, "And what's for breakfast?"

"I have no idea," Katara answered, "But we're having omelets and bacon for breakfast,"

"Finally, something other than pancakes," Kya said.

"So, how are you enjoying your break?" Katara asked, ignoring her daughter's annoyed tone.

"It's great!" Kya exclaimed, "We even got an extra day off!"

"You really seem to hate school..." Katara said, almost sounding disappointed.

"I _do_ hate school," Kya reminded her mother, "The only good part about it, is that I get to see Miki,"

"Speaking of which, how is she?" Katara asked.

"She's okay," Kya said, "Also, she wants to meet me at the park on Saturday."

"That's nice!" Katara said, "Maybe you could invite her over for dinner, too."

"Yeah, maybe," Kya said, "Especially since she doesn't have her father around anymore."

"That's really sad to hear about her father," Katara said, "I'm glad she doesn't have to deal with him anymore."

Bumi walked into the kitchen right as Katara said that.

"Who?" He asked.

"My friend, Miki," Kya said.

"Oh," Bumi said, "Are we going to meet her soon? You're always talking about her,"

"Yeah, possibly," Kya said, with a nod.

* * *

The next day came quickly. It'd finally stopped snowing, Katara and Aang's three kids, and Lin, had gone out to play in the snow. Which left Katara, Aang, Toph, Sokka, and Suki sitting at the table with blankets and hot tea. The heating situation was very complicated in the house, but they managed to keep warm. They were waiting, particularly for Zuko, Mai, and their daughter, Honora, to arrive.

"Does anyone need more tea?" Katara asked.

"I'm all good," Sokka said, "And when is Zuko going to get here?"

"He should be here any minute," Aang said.

And right after Aang had said that, there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," Aang said, tangling himself out of the shared blanket with Katara.

He got up from his seat, walked over to the door, and opened it.

"Zuko!" Aang exclaimed, "It's good to see you!"

"It's good to see you, too," Zuko said, bowing his head.

"We're in the kitchen having tea," Aang said, "We've been waiting for you."

Aang led them into the kitchen, and gestured for them to take a seat at the table. Honora looked lost, but she also felt lost. Where were all of the other kids?

"Mom," She whispered to Mai, "Where's all of the kids?"

Katara had over heard them, and answered before Mai could, "The kids are playing outside in the snow. Feel free to go join them!"

"Thank you," Honora said, and she rushed out the door.

* * *

"Mind if I join you guys?" Honora asked.

The group of kids stopped in the middle of what they were doing, and stared at her. They all gasped when they noticed it was Honora, their 'cousin' who they hadn't seen in many years.

"Honora!" Kya exclaimed, running over to give her a hug, "It's so good to see you!"

"It's good to see you guys, too," Honora said, her golden eyes darting back and forth, observing each kid, noticing how different they looked since the last time they'd met.

"How long will you be here?" Bumi asked.

"A couple of days," She said with a sideways smile.

Bumi stared directly at her, and for the first time, realized how beautiful this young girl was. She was only a year and a half older than Bumi. She was the perfect combination of Zuko and Mai. She had Zuko's eyes, Mai's face structure and eye brow shape, and dark black hair like both of her parents. Bumi tried not to blush, or make his blush obvious when he did blush. He didn't want to be teased by his younger siblings over the fact that he was physically attracted to Honora, his 'cousin'.

Even though they weren't necessarily cousins by blood, they still considered her family and considered her as their cousin anyway. Same thing with Lin. Which didn't make it strange for Tenzin to have a crush on his non-blood-related-cousin, who was also his closest friend.

"You've met Tenzin, right?" Kya asked.

"He was only a baby since the last time I was here..." Honora said.

"Then you probably haven't met Lin," Kya said, shoving Lin forward to greet Honora.

"Aw she's cute!" Honora cooed.

"No she's not," Bumi said.

"Are you kidding?" She shouted, "Look at that adorable face!"

Lin smiled, her whole face lighting up.

"Trust me, once you get to know her, she's not cute!" Bumi whispered

Honora chuckled, "Most kids these days are like that anyway."

Bumi blushed. He never had a girl he had feelings for laugh at something as stupid as the comment he made, teasing Lin.

"We're all family here, it doesn't matter," Lin said, "Besides, I can scare him away if I really wanted to."

"No you couldn't!" Bumi said, shoving his face against Lin's.

"Oh yeah?" Lin played, "You wanna bet?"

"15 yuans, let's go!" Bumi commanded.

"Are you actually going to do this?" Kya asked, giving her brother the disgusted look she always gave him whenever he would do something ridiculous, stupid, or weird.

"Pfft, no..." Bumi said slowly.

"Wimp!" Lin teased.

"Oh, I'm a wimp?" Bumi asked.

"Yeah!" Lin said, pointing a finger into his chest.

"Should we do something?" Honora whispered to Kya.

"Nah, this happens all the time," Kya whispered, a little too loud actually, "Sometimes I just wish I didn't have any siblings at all."

"I don't know..." Honora said, "Being the only-child gets lonely."

"No, just count yourself lucky you don't have brothers," Kya said.

Honora laughed.

"Hey!" Bumi said, turning around from the little fight that was about to break out between the non-bender and the chief's daughter, "I'll tell you what! It was way better when it was just me, mom, and dad!"

"Please, you only had 3 years alone with them," Kya said, shrugging.

"Three years that were ruined when you came along!" Bumi shouted.

They all gasped. The words never meant to come out of the teenager's mouth. He was just angry. He wouldn't ever say such thing to his little sister, who he loved.

* * *

Confused looks were exchanged from the group of adults at the table, as they realized each time they tried to start a conversation with one of the kids, they'd easily try to end it. Almost like they were in a rush for something. But they really weren't. Kya and Bumi were angry at each other, due to the rude and nasty comment Bumi had said earlier. Lin and Tenzin would just exchange looks, and shrugs. Honora was like the adults, exchanging confused looks, though she wasn't confused. She knew what had went on outside, but she didn't want to start up an argument with her family, especially since this was family she hadn't seen in at least 8 years.

Kya and Bumi were just pouting, and glaring at each other. Sooner or later Kya started kicking his feet under the table, and Bumi kicked her back.

"If you two don't stop playing "footsies" under the table," Toph threatened, "I will kick both of your asses!"

Zuko, Lin, and Tenzin seemed to be the only ones who laughed. Once Zuko realized no one else was laughing, he cleared his throat, coughed a few times into the back of his hand, and smiled. Then he frowned, once he received the death glare from his wife.

"We're not playing "footsies" or whatever you called it," Kya said angrily, "He was kicking me."

"Oh what the hell?" Bumi exclaimed, "You started kicking me!"

"Bumi, settle down!" Katara demanded, she grabbed his arm and whispered to him, "You know not to use that language!"

"But Aunt Toph-"

"I don't care what Toph says," Katara said, "She's an adult, she doesn't live here, she makes her own rules."

"I'm an adult." Bumi argued.

Kya scoffed, "No you aren't!"

"Yes, I am!" Bumi argued back.

"Please, even Tenzin acts older than you..." Kya said, throwing a hand out to point at Tenzin.

"He acts older than you, too!" Bumi yelled.

"I never said he didn't!" Kya argued.

"Wow, thanks," Tenzin said.

"Don't get involved," Lin mumbled.

"What?" Tenzin said, "So now you're going to give me advice on when to get involved in an argument with my brother and sister?"

"No, I was-"

"I was joking," Tenzin said calmly.

Lin gave him a stern look, then elbowed him in the rib cage. Tenzin yelped out in pain, then returned the glare to Lin.

"All of you please just cut it out and finish your dinner!" Aang yelled.

Kya crossed her arms across her chest, "Fine," She pouted.

* * *

"Are you going to tell me what on Earth happened outside?" Katara asked, after requesting her daughter to talk privately in Katara and Aang's bedroom.

"It's a long story," Kya said.

"I'm waiting..." Katara said.

"Well, Bumi and I got into an argument," Kya said, "And he said something he shouldn't have..."

"What did he say?" Katara asked.

"We were arguing because I told Honora that she's lucky to be an only child... and then he said that the three years he spent as an only-child were the best three years that were ruined when I came along," Kya said, "I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want you to yell at him and freak out."

"I'm not mad," Katara said.

"What?" Kya shrieked.

"Because, I know it isn't true," Katara said, "I know he loves you, a lot... More than he loves Tenzin. I'm still going to talk to him."

"No mom, please don't!" Kya begged.

"I'm not going to punish you, or him," She addressed, "I just want to talk."

"Okay," Kya said, "That's fine... I guess."

But before Kya could finish, Katara had already left the room.

"Bumi?" Katara asked, knocking carefully on his locked shut bedroom door.

On the other side, the doorknob twitched, and then Bumi opened the door, "Come in."

Katara walked in, and sat on the bed, "We need to talk," She said firmly.

"Am I in trouble?" Bumi asked.

"No, I just came here to address somethings," Katara said.

"'Some things'..." Bumi repeated.

"Yes," Katara said, with a nod.

"Mom, I think I know exactly what you're going to say."

"I don't think you do," Katara said, "I'm not angry at you for what you said to your sister."

"Oh thank god!" Bumi exclaimed, "I didn't mean it! I was just so mad that she was embarrassing me in front of-"

"In front of who?" Katara asked.

"No one," Bumi said with a nervous laugh.

"Honora?" Katara asked.

"What?" Bumi asked.

"Do you like Honora?" Katara asked.

"What?!" Bumi lied, "She's my cousin!"

"Not by blood..." Katara said.

"Mom, that's ridiculous!" Bumi shouted, his face flushed with red, "And you sound so much like Kya right now, it's freaky."

Katara only laughed.

"Don't you have somewhere to be?" Bumi asked, "Like with the adults, and not embarrassing your poor son."

"Sweetie, I never meant to embarrass you," Katara said, "But that reminds me, the adults are going to have some drinks in the family room, don't bother us, please. And get to bed a reasonable time."

"You mean 3AM isn't reasonable enough?" Bumi teased.

"Just get your pajamas on," Katara said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh, so 5AM?" Bumi called out, as she headed to the door.

"How about 11PM?" Katara suggested.

"1AM." Bumi said, "Deal."

"You just better be asleep before we go to bed," Katara said, and she left the room.

* * *

"Here's the plan," Bumi said, whispering to the group of kids that were hanging out in Bumi's room, the second biggest room in the house, "We need some food in here. We're all starving."

The five kids were sitting in a circle on Bumi's surprisingly clean room. Bumi, who sat in front of the dresser was basically the one making all of the plans, and on his left was Honora, then Kya, then Tenzin, and finally Lin. It was 2AM, none of them were tired, just hungry and thirsty.

"The plan is to run into the kitchen, grab the tray of cookies, get some milk," Bumi said, "Oh and do not get caught."

"So, who's gonna do it?" Lin asked.

"Tenzin," Bumi said, before anyone else could answer.

"Why me?" Tenzin complained.

"Because, you can move at the speed of light," Bumi exaggerated, "You can grab the tray of cookies and carton of milk and run back in here; you're a quick and easy in-and-out."

Bumi started laughing at what he just said, being the immature 15 year old boy he was. But once he realized no one else was laughing, he got a hold of himself.

"Okay, so anyway," Bumi said after clearing his throat, "Tenzin's going, no arguments."

"Fine," Tenzin said.

"Okay, so you know what you're doing?" Bumi asked.

Tenzin nodded.

"Do you know where the cookies are?" Bumi asked.

Tenzin nodded again.

"Go!" Bumi shouted.

Tenzin ran as fast as he could. He was always light on his feet, and he was even more light than he'd usually be. He grabbed the tray of cookies, seconds after rushing into the kitchen, and opened the fridge.

Toph could feel something strange, "There's something in the kitchen!"

"My mom spotted him!" Lin shouted in a whisper.

Tenzin grabbed the carton of milk, and ran back to Bumi's room.

"Aunt Toph almost caught you!" Kya said, "You're lucky they didn't see you."

"And you got no cups?" Bumi asked, "You know, for the milk?"

"No one told me to grab them!" Tenzin shouted, "I had no time either."

"Common sense, little brother," Bumi said, punching his brother in the forearm.

"Check Bumi's room," Katara said, "They were hanging out in there earlier, maybe they're still in there."

Aang stood in the doorway of the hallway.

"Uncle Aang is coming!" Lin shouted in a whisper, "Pretend you're asleep!"

Honora layed onto her back and shut her eyes, Lin "slept" near the door purposely, Tenzin airbended himself onto Bumi's bed and pulled the covers over his face, Kya pretended to be asleep right next to the bed, Bumi ran to the bed but noticed Tenzin beat him to it.

"Move!" Bumi ordered in a whisper.

He shoved Tenzin, a little too hard, and his face slammed against the wall.

"Ow!" Tenzin yelped in a whisper.

Bumi pulled the covers over his face, and closed his eyes. Kya struggled to hold in her laugh.

"Shut up!" Lin demanded in a whisper, "He's coming!"

"Shit!" Lin swore, "The lights! And the cookies and milk!"

Lin jumped up, switched the lights off. Then, she shoved the cookies and milk under the dresser. Finally, she plopped down back in her spot by the door, making it harder to open.

Aang struggled to get the door open, but once he did, he realized they were all asleep. Or, he thought they were.

He told Toph once he returned to the family room, but she of course, didn't believe him. She had to go see for herself.

Toph opened the door, and stood in the doorway, Aang and Sokka behind her.

"Nope, they're awake," Toph said.

Lin opened her eyes, "Mom, what are you doing?" She pretended like her mother woke her from deep slumber, "You're going to wake them all up."

"Play time is over," Toph said, "You're all wide awake, I can feel it."

"Dang," Bumi said, "It almost worked."

"Nah, you all pretty much suck at pretending to be asleep," Toph said with a shrug, "Honora could pull it off, but the rest of you can't."

"Years of practice," Honora said with a laugh.

"Well, you kids better fall asleep soon!" Toph yelled, "Good night."

"Night," They each replied.

* * *

"How long has it been since we all had this much fun?" Sokka asked.

The group of adults, who were sitting on the couches of the family room of Aang and Katara's home, with chips and drinks, were actually having fun. The kids were finally asleep, and they were just having a good night hanging out and sharing "good old" stories.

"It's been a while," Zuko agreed.

"I'll say," Sokka said, "By the way, how has in been back in the Fire Nation?" Sokka asked, taking another swig of his alcoholic beverage.

"Things have been running smoothly, actually," Zuko said, "We're holding up pretty good."

"Honora would always talk about being the first woman to run the fire nation..." Mai said, "Then she'll say: Not that I want you to die, or anything. I just can't wait to be firelord."

"I don't know," Zuko said, "Some of the things she'd say in her early teen years made me think otherwise."

All of them laughed.

"What'd she say?" Sokka asked.

"She'd always yell at us, and blow up whenever we told her no, or didn't allow her to do something, and she would get angry pretty easily," Zuko said.

"Sounds familiar," Sokka teased.

All of them were nearly choking with laughter, except Zuko.

"Oh come on, Zuko." Mai said, "Don't get upset."

"That wasn't funny," Zuko said, crossing his arms.

"You were like that as a teenager," Mai said, "That was a long time ago!"

"All teenagers are like that," Katara agreed.

"Especially you," Sokka teased.

"I'm not going to deny that I was," Katara said, "All teenage girls are all emotional and hormonal."

"Kya's next," Sokka said.

"Good luck," Zuko added.

Aang and Katara laughed.

"Better than having three daughters," Aang said.

"Oh good god," Katara groaned, "I don't even want to think about that."

"Excuse me, but I'd be the only male in the house," Aang said, "I don't know how I'd survive."

"Just be glad we don't have three daughters," Katara said, rolling her eyes.

"I am glad," Aang said, giving Katara a kiss on the cheek.

"Okay, okay," Sokka said throwing his hands up, "That's great. That's cute. Stop with the oogies please."

"Oogies? Really?" Katara asked, giving her brother an un-amused look.

"Yes, for the sake of our family and friends, please don't get all touchy-feely in front of us," Sokka said, cringing.

"It was just a kiss, Sokka," Suki said, "No need to freak out."

"I'm not freaking out," Sokka said.

Suki leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, "See? I just kissed you, and Katara isn't freaking out."

"It's fine, Suki," Katara said, "He's always been like that."

"Like when he first caught us kissing," Aang teased.

"Back when I was taller than you," Katara added.

"Now you're the shortest," Aang teased.

"I'm taller than Toph still," Katara teased.

"When did I get dragged into this?" Toph asked.

"Oh yeah, Toph's here," Sokka joked.

"Shut up," Toph said.

"I was just joking," Sokka said.

"I know, but you're giving us all a head ache," Toph teased, "Go to bed or something."

"Speaking of which," Mai said, "I think I'm going to head to bed."

Zuko yawned, "Me too."

"Have fun," Sokka teased.

"Shut up, Sokka," Zuko said, before leaving the room.

"You tired too?" Aang asked Katara.

"No she's not!" Sokka said quickly.

"A little," Katara said, completely ignoring her brother.

"Oh goody, don't tell me you're going to bed, too," Sokka said.

"Calm down, Sokka," Katara said, "We're not."

"We're not?" Aang asked.

"Oh brother," Toph groaned.

"I was kidding," Aang said, glaring at Toph.

"We're you?" Katara asked.

"No," He said, frowning

"Oh my god," Sokka said.

"Oh shut up you two," Katara said, rolling her eyes.

She laid down beside Aang, and cuddled up against him.

"Yeah, I'm out," Toph said, leaving the room.

"Damn, 4AM..." Sokka said, "Let's go to bed, Suki." Sokka said.

"Oh, you can talk about going in bed in Suki but I can't talk about going to bed with Aang in my own house?" Katara called, as he was about to leave.

"That's different, you're my sister," Sokka said.

"And you're my brother!" Katara argued.

"Look, Katara," Sokka said, "I'm in no mood to argue. Good night."

"Good night," She growled.

"So, are we actually going to bed now?" Aang asked, "So we can be somewhere that's more comfortable?"

"What, the couch is too uncomfortable for you?" Katara teased.

"That, and we should probably go to a room that's more private," Aang said, kissing her hair, "Like the bedroom."

"Good idea, Avatar Aang," She said, kissing him back on the cheek.

* * *

**~To be continued**

**Sorry, I don't write smut.**


	9. When One Goes Missing

**Okay, I'm really glad that I got chapter 8 out A LOT sooner than I thought I would. And after the third line horizontal line, that part took a long time for me to write. I don't know much about couples in bed together and what triggers what emotions. So, I had to google it. (Let's not forget them I'm only 14 years old, okay?) Turns out that guys are easily aroused even when they're just cuddling with their partner. Then I looked up women's reaction to it, and the responses were kind of interesting and funny. That part will probably be the closest thing to smut that I'll ever write. And that's really fluff. That's sad. I guess. I don't know. Enough of the short talk, though I just felt like adding this in, let's just continue on the story!**

**Oh god how can anyone write and sit through smut. I can't. I'm not even sure if it's my age/perspective. I don't think sex is nasty, and I have no interest in it. I can proudly say I am much more mature than your average 14 year old. Though some certain words make me giggle. And after the fourth line thingy, I tried to add a little humor in the beginning. Sometimes I swear that these author notes are longer than the story, my god.**

**Kya is missing from home after a brutal return to school. How will her family cope with the fact that their daughter is missing? **

* * *

**Chapter 9 - When One Goes Missing**

* * *

When Kya realized that her holiday break was over, she had no thrill in going back to her personal hell.

When she walked down the hall with her head up, she didn't have to look at them to tell that everyone was staring at her. Some people called out her name, teasing her, and others just looked at her like she came from an entirely different planet. And she hated every second of it.

When she arrived at her locker, she realized that Miki wasn't here.

_Where is she?! _Kya wondered.

When she was just about to reach into her locker to grab her books, a boy from behind slammed it shut.

"Excuse me?" Kya asked.

"You're in my way," The boy replied.

She didn't even know who he was.

"How am I getting in your way when I'm minding my own business, and getting my things for class?" Kya asked, placing a hand on her hip.

"Get out of my way, peasant!" The boy ordered.

"I'm sorry, but you have no right to tell me what to do," Kya said, "And who are you anyway?"

Instead of answering her, the hot headed boy just punched her across the face. The back of her head slammed into the locker door, due to the strong impact of his punch.

_"What's this?" Katara asked, holding Tenzin who was only about three years old at the time._

_"Oh, it's some old thingy used to train air benders!" Bumi exclaimed._

_"Dad's going to teach us how to be the leaf..." Kya said, "... To move like air benders."_

_"Honey, is this going to break my children?" Katara asked, giving Aang a questioned look, "Like that time when you taught them how to use a glider?"_

_"Not at all sweetie," Aang said, giving her a kiss on the cheek._

_"Well, let me tell you what happened," Katara continued, "They just kept falling and falling out of the sky!"_

_"Appa was there to catch them," Aang reminded her, "I mean there was that time with Bumi, but he bounced. Look at him now!"_

_To move like air benders, _Kya thought.

She regained balance, and watched her target's movements closely. He gave 100% effort into that first punch, spraining his knuckles. The next punch that was thrown, he only gave about 70% of effort into it. Which, Kya easily dodged. He stumbled forward, knocking him and Kya down. He regained enough strength to stand up, but Kya couldn't. She was ready to cry from the pain of that punch, and the pounding of her head hitting the locker doors. A crowd started to form around the two, watching the fight go down. The boy, who Kya realized was named Hiroto as the kids chanted his name while he was beating her up, began to kick and stomp on her. He stomped on her face twice, and kicked her in the back once.

"Stop!" A girl cried from the crowd, "You're killing her!"

The chanting stopped, and they all gasped when they realized that Kya looked nearly _dead._

"You don't want me to kill her?" Hiroto asked.

"No!" The girl screamed, "Are you crazy!?"

"You think I'm crazy?" He asked, defensively, "You better watch your mouth or you'll end up like her." He pointed to Kya, who did indeed feel dead.

"Yo man, after that second punch we were all thinking it," Some random boy from the crowd said, "You need to go back to them anger classes or something. You need to control yourself, dude." The boy had poor grammar.

"You all better run!" Hiroto screamed on the top of his lungs.

And the crowd obeyed. Even Hiroto left. He left Kya to remain laying on the cold hard ground.

A girl had come out of the bathroom, once she heard the silence in the hallway. She noticed Kya, laying on the floor.

"Oh my goodness!" She shrieked, and ran beside Kya, "Are you okay?"

Kya could hardly open her eyes. She stared up at the girl, attempting to talk. But her lungs ached so bad and her mouth was throbbing, she couldn't even open it to make a sound.

"Can you stand?" The girl asked.

Kya sat up, and slowly and some how stood up with the girl's help.

"By the way," She said, "My name is Kitsi."

Kya blinked, and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I'm so sorry that this happened to you," Kitsi said, sympathetically.

"Not your fault," Kya managed to say.

"What's your name, by the way?" Kitsi asked.

"Kya," The syllable named was easy to spit out.

"It's nice to meet you, Kya," Kitsi said with a smile.

Kya only blinked.

"Kya, promise me that you're going to go to the school nurse," Kitsi said, "I'll even walk you down to her office."

"No!" Kya disobeyed forcefully.

"What?" Kitsi asked, "Why?"

"I need to get out of here," Kya said.

_I can't seem like I'm a big taddle-tale!_ Kya thought, _I need mom. I need her to heal me._

_I think I'm going to throw up._

_Everything is spinning._

_I'm going to fall._

"Now's your chance," Kitsi said, "Leave without being seen."

Kya nodded.

"Go!" Kitsi demanded.

And Kya did. She sneaked out of the side door. And she left. Left for home.

* * *

Kya honestly didn't want to go home. She just wanted to keep on walking, and walking. But she knew that she would need to come home eventually. But she didn't.

She watched as the sun fell below the horizon of Yue Bay. She sat on the branch, high up in a tree. The Republic City park sure was more colder at night than her heated home. But coming from the Southern Watertribe, it wasn't the main thing that bothered her. The only thing that scared her was the possibility of getting kidnapped in the middle of the night, and getting killed.

_I almost died already today. I don't need to risk dying again, _she thought to herself, This is going to be one long night.

Back on Air Temple Island was where Aang comforted his wife, who was a weeping mess. She sent the two present kids to bed, and found herself sobbing into her husband's shirt minutes later.

"I'll call Toph," Aang said, "She can send out a search party."

"Shouldn't we call Sokka and Suki first?" Katara asked, wiping fresh tears from her ocean blue eyes.

"But don't you think Sokka and Suki would call us to tell us that she's safe at their house?" Aang asked, "I'll call anyway, but don't you think they would do that first?"

"You always make such intelligent points, it's not fair," She said, crying heavier than she already was.

"That's not always true," Aang said, pulling her even closer in his embrace, "Especially when we're arguing."

"Not helping, sweetie," Katara said.

"Right, the call." Aang said, getting up from his seat, leaving Katara only to hug and cry into a spare pillow.

When he returned to the living room, the shrug of his shoulders and a tear running down his face was what got Katara crying like a baby again. She launched herself into Aang's embrace and sobbed into his shoulder.

"We'll find her," Aang promised, "We'll have to."

"Eventually," Katara agreed, through sobs.

* * *

"Katara?" Aang asked.

He was woken up by her sobs. She was turned onto her side, facing away from him. He flopped onto the side she was facing, and scooted closer to his wife. He caressed her smooth tan cheek gently with his thumb, wiping away any tears that tried to interfere. She found the gentle sensation to be soothing, and calmed down a bit.

"I'm sorry," She said with a sniffle, "I just can't sleep tonight."

"I only got an hour or two myself," Aang said, "And Toph will be here in the morning, and we'll get this sorted out."

"I love you so much, Aang," Katara sobbed, "I don't know what I'd do without you!"

"Me too," Aang said, "I love you, too."

"I just hope that we will find her," Katara said, flipping onto her back.

"We will find her," Aang said, "I promise."

Her only response was to cry. She flipped onto her other side, so she was facing Aang. He wiped her tears away with his index finger, but each time she blinked, more tears would fall. He tucked a piece of stray hair behind her ear, and then began to stroke her cheek with his thumb. But she gently pushed his hand away.

"What-?"

In response to his interrupted question, she cuddled up very close to him. She turned so her back was facing him, more against his chest than facing him, so that they were laying in a spooning position.

"Hold me, please," Katara said.

"Of course," Aang said, wrapping an arm around her.

After a few minutes of cuddling her, he was surprised to hear her giggling.

"What?" Aang asked.

"You mean you don't even notice?" She asked, giggling again.

"What?" He asked, "Notice what?"

"You're poking me, sweetie," Katara said, biting back her laugh.

"Is it bothering you?" Aang asked, planting a kiss to the back of her neck.

"No," She said, biting back a moan as he kissed one of her most sensitive spots. Anytime he would kiss or breathe on the back of her neck, she would always get the same sensation she would when or if she was being tickled. But she enjoyed it, and he knew she did.

"Aang, please," She said, "I just want to get some sleep before the sun comes up."

"Sorry, sweetie," He said, scooting back.

"No, come back," Katara said, glancing over her shoulder.

"I thought you weren't in the mood," Aang said.

"I still want to cuddle!" Katara said.

"Oh, okay," He smiled, and scooted closer to her, but he left some space so he wouldn't accidentally poke her again.

* * *

The morning came quickly. When Katara woke up with the sun nearly blinding her through her shut eyes, she was very cranky, since her slumber felt like it only lasted for five whole minutes. But, reality was that it lasted for almost four hours. She turned onto her side, and propped herself up on an elbow. With the other hand, she shook Aang's muscular shoulder.

"Aang..." She said, pausing to yawn, "Get up."

He grumbled in response, barely even awake.

"Aang..." Katara said.

He kept his eyes closed and tried to go back to sleep.

"Aang, does this mean I have to get dressed?" She hoped that would catch his attention, though she was dressed, but at the same time she wasn't. If you count being in a bra, underwear, and a silk robe to consider being dressed, then she was dressed.

"What?" He asked, sitting up quickly.

"Wow, I'm going to have to use that more often," Katara teased.

"What?" Aang asked, "You're dressed?"

"Thought I'd give you some kind of amazing wake up call or something?" Katara asked.

"Maybe..." He said with a frown of disappointment.

"Aang, don't be ridiculous," Katara said, "We've got two kids to feed!"

"First you decline me before falling asleep," Aang started, "And you do it again today!"

"You poor baby," She said sarcastically, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"A kiss on the cheek and a sarcastic comment," Aang said, "That's it?"

"What, do you want to strip each other and then make love all morning?" Katara asked.

"I wouldn't mind," He said, smirking.

"Looks like you're going to have to keep it in your pants this time, Aang," Katara said, "Just stop whining and get dressed please. Toph will be here soon, we have a busy day ahead of us."

* * *

"I'm sorry but we can't confirm someone 'missing' unless they've been gone for at least 24 hours," Toph said.

She sat across from Aang and Katara at their kitchen table in the dining room. Bumi and Tenzin were sent off to school before Toph and her police officers arrived at Air Temple Island. Katara was able to hold back all of her tears this time.

"Officers," She ordered, as a cover, "Check the perimeter of the Island again."

"Yes, ma'am," They saluted, and obeyed by their chief's command.

"Listen up," Toph said in a whisper, "I'm going to send out an elite search party to go looking for her. We're going to go to that damn school first. We know she arrived at school."

"Thank you, Toph," Katara said.

"It's no problem," Toph said, "We're going to get to the bottom of this and we're going to find her."

"I'm going with you," Aang said.

"If you're going, I'm going," Katara jumped in.

"That's a bad idea," Toph said, "We need someone to stay on the Island incase she comes back."

"Your officers," Katara said, "They'll stay on the island."

"I guess so," Toph said with a shrug, "Then we should get Sokka, too. Incase we need to split up. That way, when we do, it'll be even."

Outside, Toph explained the situation to her officers. Being under her control, they hardly could disobey any tasks. With her officers protecting the Island while Toph, Aang, Katara, and Sokka went out looking for Kya, everything seemed to be under control.

"So, where should we look first?" Sokka asked, hopping off of Appa.

"We need to split up," Toph said, "Twinkletoes and I will search the grounds, while you two search on Appa."

"And how will we tell you two if we find her?" Katara asked.

"We're going to set up territory," Toph said, "We'll cover the east of Yue Bay, and you two will get the west. Make sure you triple check the park. If she's anyway in this city, I'd predict that she's in the park."

Katara nodded. She didn't want to say anything because she knew that the second she opened her mouth, she would just burst into a sobbing mess. And even Aang would struggle to calm her down.

"So, where do we meet at the end?" Sokka asked.

"Back at the temple," Toph ordered, "If we don't find her after two hours- Well, let's not say anything until further notice."

Katara crossed her arms and looked down at her feet. Her eyes were stinging, but she wouldn't let any tears fall.

"Hey," Toph said in a gentle voice to Katara, "Just stay strong. We'll find her. I know we will."

Katara only nodded.

Aang walked over and pulled her into his embrace, "Don't worry. Everything will be alright."

Katara rested her cheek on his chest, and blinked. When she did, a single tear fell down, and bled into the cloth of Aang's air nomad robes.

So much for the no crying rule she mentally made.

* * *

"You'd think that she would take the boat home back to the temple," Katara said, as she sat in Appa's saddle while Sokka guided Appa around the park.

"Katara, you can't talk like that," Sokka said.

"But don't you think she would do that?" Katara asked, "What if she got kidnapped, or something?"

"Let's stop with the 'What ifs' and focus on finding her," Sokka said.

The rest of the ride, neither one of them said another word to each other. Sokka preferred landing in the park and searching on foot was a better idea. Katara wasn't so sure.

"What if she's up in a tree?" Katara asked.

"Don't be ridiculous," Sokka said, helping her get off of Appa.

She sighed, her breath shaking.

"Let's search," Sokka said.

"Where do you think she'd be around here?" Katara asked.

"Near a tree, near the lake, on a bench..." Sokka said, "Don't let all of your worrying keep you from thinking straight, Katara."

After 20 minutes of searching, they spotted a small figure in a blue watertribe outfit.

"Kya!" Katara yelled, running to the tree was lying beneath. Sokka followed.

"Mom?" Kya asked, her voice was low and hoarse, and she was avoiding her mother's eyes.

"Kya?" She asked, cupping her chin with her hand.

But Kya swatted her mother's hand away.

"Kya, where have you been?" Katara asked, getting a bit angry that after 18 hours, she seemed to show know signs of happiness, interest, excitement in seeing her mother.

Kya turned her head, looking up at her mother, "I'm sorry," A tear ran down her scraped face.

Sokka and Katara both gasped at the sight of Kya's face. Scraped markings, burned marks, and freshly dried blood.

"Kya, what happened?!" Katara asked, cradling her daughter in her arms.

"I-I was beat up," She said.

"By who?" Sokka asked.

"Uncle Sokka's here, too?" Kya asked, "I didn't even notice him."

Sokka nodded, "Who beat you up?"

"Some kid," Kya said, "From school."

"How did you end up here?" Katara asked.

"I ran off," Kya admitted, "I couldn't get home because I felt so weak and so sick. I still feel weak, and I still feel sick."

"We need to get you home," Katara said, "We need to clean your face up, too."

Sokka carried Kya onto Appa, and Katara sat with her daughter in the sky bison's saddle. Which was also where she began a healing session on Kya.

"Mom, what if I get a scar like Uncle Zuko?" Kya asked, "I don't want a scar."

Katara laughed slightly, "You wont get a scar if we heal it properly."

"Do I have to go back there?" Kya asked.

"Never again," Katara promised.

* * *

"I'm so glad you're home safe and sound," Aang said, wrapping his muscular arms around his daughter.

"I'm glad to be home," Kya said.

In the living room of their home was where they'd met up.

"Honey, we'll make sure that evil boy is thrown behind bars, along with his parents," Toph said, giving the young waterbender a hug too.

Kya wrapped her arms around Toph's neck and said, "Thank you, Aunt Toph, you're the best." And let go.

"Glad you're home safe, Kya," Sokka said, "I think it's time we head out, and you get to bed so your face can get better."

"Sounds good," Kya said with a smile, "Good night everyone."

"Goodnight!" They replied.

Katara walked her daughter to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. She sat next to Kya on her bed, and explained some things.

"Was there a explanation behind the reason why this boy beat you up?" Katara asked.

"No, mom," Kya said, "I told you. I was at my locker, just getting my stuff together for my next class, and he walks up to me and says I'm in his way. I asked him how I could possibly be in his way, and then he punched me."

"If something like that ever happens again," Katara addressed, "You come straight home to us."

"I'm so sorry mom," Kya began to cry again, "I really felt too weak to go that far."

"I understand," Katara said, "I just want you to do that next time. And let's hope there is no next time."

"Yeah," Kya said, wiping away her tears.

"Give me a hug, I'm heading to bed," Katara said, with a smile.

Kya jumped into her mother's arms and gave her a hug.

"Goodnight, mom," She said, after releasing her arms.

"Goodnight, sweetie," Katara said, shutting off the lights, "We'll heal your face first thing in the morning.

"Sounds good," Kya then repeated, "Good night."

Katara closed the door and headed down the hall to join Aang in their bedroom.

* * *

Kya woke up in the middle of the night, to rush into the bathroom to throw up. After flushing the yellow colored vomit, she washed her mouth out in the sink. And after that, she could hardly stand any longer. She stumbled to her parents room, and woke up Katara by shaking her on the shoulders.

"Mom, my head hurts, I can hardly walk, I don't feel good," She complained.

"What?" Katara asked, sitting up.

"I said, my head hurts, I can barely walk, and I don't feel good!" She shouted.

"Get some ice, and put it on your head, I'll be there to heal your face again in a few minutes," Katara said.

Kya was about to take a step back, but she fell, unconscious.

"Kya!" Katara screamed.

The crash of a body hitting the floor woke up Aang.

"What happened?" He asked.

"She fainted," Katara said.

"Oh my god," Aang said, airbending the covers off of himself to jump out of bed and to be by his daughter's side.

* * *

Minutes later, they arrived at a near by hospital, where they met up with Sokka. Sokka agreed to go back to the Island to spend the rest of the night so that when Tenzin and Bumi woke up, they'd know that their parents and sister were gone due to the incident caused at school.

"One night, we're having a blast," Katara said, wiping her tears, "Two days later we're rushing our daughter to the hospital-"

She couldn't finish, and she didn't feel like she needed to.

Aang wrapped an arm around her, "If it was something severe, they would've told us by now."

"Aang it is severe!" Katara said, sobbing into his chest, "She has all of the symptoms of a concussion!"

"Don't you think they'd tell us by now?" Aang asked, "It's been an hour and a half since we got here."

"I guess so," Katara said, "But, I still know she has a concussion. Whether it's severe or not!"

"Are you tired?" Aang asked, changing the subject.

"I'm exhausted!" Katara nearly yelled.

"Why don't we just take a little nap, and then wake up in an hour if they don't tell us what's going on by then?" Aang suggested, "No offense or anything, but you seem to be a little cranky."

"A little?" Katara asked, "I'm surprised you're still here. I'm a pain in the butt right now."

"No you're not," Aang said, "You're just tired and stressed out."

She cuddled up closer to him, "I think I'll just take a short nap."

Right as Katara closed her eyes, the nurse walked down from the hall.

"Avatar Aang, and Master Katara?" The nurse asked.

"That's us," Aang answered.

"It's an honor to meet you," The nurse said, "We have the results for your daughter."

Katara opened her eyes.

"We bandaged up her face," The nurse said, "But we also found out that she has a pretty severe concussion."

"How severe?" Katara asked.

"To the point where it's more than mild, but less than critical," The nurse said.

"Glad to hear it could be worse," Aang said, "That's probably the best thing that's happened in the past 3 hours."

"But, from what our doctors have seen," The nurse said, "She took a lot of damage and impact near the brainstem. She's in a coma. And we assume she wont slip out of it for a couple of weeks."

They both gasped, tears stinging their eyes, and Katara immediately began to sob again.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	10. Illusions, Tears, and Nightmares

**No promises on getting this chapter out as quickly as I got chapter 9 out. That was a record there. Wow. I'm so glad to see the good/kind reviews! I love you all, and I hope you love reading this fic as much as I love writing it! The beginning part was partially inspired by Renegade by Styx. Ugh I'm so sorry this fanfic is moving so slow, and you're all waiting so long. SCHOOL IS A LIVING HELL! I'm only in 8th grade but the amount of work compared to last year is horrific.**

**Wow, already at chapter 10. I don't even know how I'm going to conclude this fanfiction. I'm so sorry but this chapter will be a little shorter than the others. I have a lot planned for next chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 10 - Illusions, Tears, and Nightmares**

* * *

4AM. Katara was waiting alone in the darkened waiting room. Hospitals personally crept her out. The fact that tons and tons of people have died there didn't help her thoughts. All alone in the waiting room of a creepy hospital. No Aang, no kids, no family at the moment, no one to comfort her. No one to hold her while she cried and cried. How could it be possible to cry so much? When was the last time she'd cried this hard? Probably when she found out that her mother would not be coming back.

"Are you okay, miss?" A familiar voice asked.

Katara turned around quickly. She was excited, yet a bit jumpy at the person, female from the tone of the voice, randomly approached her alarmingly. But, finally, someone else was in her presence. At least she thought there was. She heard a voice, and felt the lingering smell of another human being. The smell actually smelt familiar, too. She turned around quickly, but to find no one there.

_I guess I've been alone too long to the point where I'm just starting to hear things, _She thought, _or It's just due to lack of sleep. Or I'm just going straight out crazy. _

"You're not going crazy, dear," The woman's voice was almost like a whisper. The tone was so familiar, the name that had belonged to that tone was on the tip of her tongue.

"How come I can't see you?" Katara mumbled.

"Why does it matter?" The lady asked, "I can see you."

She recognized the voice. And once she realized who the voice belong to, she was nearly in tears.

"Mom?" Katara asked, "What-?"

"Stop putting so much stress on yourself," Her mother said.

"I can't help it, I'm just in a bad position and a bad place right now," Katara said.

"Don't worry, I'm here to comfort you," Kya, her mother, said.

"But I can't see you," Katara said.

"I know," Kya replied.

"How can you comfort me if I can't see you?" Katara asked, "That just makes me uncomfortable."

"I'm here to talk to you," Kya said.

"You said you were here to comfort me," Katara said.

"And to comfort you," Kya added.

"You can't comfort me if I can't see you!" Katara yelled, "How come I can't see you?"

"Because I'm dead," Kya said.

Katara started to cry.

"But it's good that you can't see me," Kya said, "If you could, that would mean that you're dead, too."

Katara didn't talk anymore. It's not like she could, she was too busy crying.

Suddenly she felt the touch of two manly hands on her shoulders. She let out a shriek, and turned around immediately, only to find her brother laughing hysterically. When she glared at him, she noticed his bloodshot red eyes.

"That wasn't funny!" Katara shouted.

He caught his breath, "Yes, that was. That was the happiest moment of my morning."

Sokka took the seat next to her in the waiting room. He rubbed his face with his hands and sighed.

"What's wrong with you?" Katara asked, "Your eyes are bloodshot and all red..."

"Yours are too!" Sokka said.

She sighed, "I know... I've been crying all night."

"I'll be honest here," Sokka admitted, "I have, too. Even after I found out about Kya."

Katara shuddered at the name Kya. Only because of her crazy sleep deprived mind, imagining the voice of her mother.

_"I'm not gone, sweetie," _Kya whispered.

Katara quickly shook her head, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear what you said."

"I was crying-"

"No, after that," Katara said.

"I didn't say anything after that," Sokka said, eyeing her suspiciously.

"Oh," She said, "Then why have you been crying?"

Right as Sokka was about to talk, Aang rushed into the waiting room, "What's wrong? I heard screaming!"

"What is it with you two just jumping out of no where and scaring me?" Katara yelled, jumping out of her seat, "It's not funny!"

Aang walked over to her, "I didn't mean to scare you," He opened his arms in an offer to hug her. But she declined it by turning his back to him and crossing her arms across her chest. Aang still gave her a hug by wrapping his arms around her torso from behind. She stiffened in his embrace and stood still.

"Oh, what is it?" Aang asked, "Your husband can't show love and affection for one moment by giving his beautiful wife a hug?"

"You and Sokka both think its so funny to just jump out and scare me when there's too much going on right now!" Katara yelled.

"Perhaps you didn't hear me," Aang said, resting his head on her shoulder, "I didn't mean to scare you."

"Okay," Katara said, shrugging her shoulders to get out of his embrace, "What were you saying, Sokka?"

"Alright then..." Aang mumbled to himself.

"No need to be so snappy, Katara," Sokka argued, "Aang was just trying to comfort you."

"No need to be snappy?" Katara asked, starting what Sokka guess was going to turn into a huge lecture from his younger sister.

Aang motion of _cut it out, don't start with her, oh god not now! _behind Katara's back. Sokka took one glance at Aang, which Katara caught, and then back at Katara. Katara turned around, glaring at Aang. But he only gave her a cheeky smile in return.

"I can't stand you two right now," Katara said through gritted teeth, beginning to walk out of the waiting room of the hospital.

"And where do you think you're going to go?" Sokka asked.

"Around," Katara said.

"Why are you being like this?" Sokka asked.

Katara turned around, giving Sokka a look of anger and frustration, but didn't say anything.

"Aang and I are here to help you, and to comfort you," Sokka continued.

"Well it's certainly not working," Katara said.

"Because you're shoving us away!" Sokka argued.

"Maybe because I want to be alone!" Katara yelled.

"You aren't alone!" Sokka yelled, "You should be glad that-"

"I should be glad that my daughter is in the hospital because she was beaten up by some jerk at school and is now suffering from a concussion?" Katara argued, "Sokka, what are you saying?!"

"You didn't let him finish," Aang said calmly.

"Don't get involved, Aang," Katara snapped.

"I already am involved, Katara!" Aang said, "She's my daughter too, you know. How- How could you even say that?" Now he was raising his own voice, too.

"As I was saying before someone interrupted," Sokka said.

"Oh, I'm sorry-" Katara said.

"Shut up!" Sokka screamed, "I can't even handle being here right now!"

Sokka headed towards the entrance of the hospital, which was also the main exit. Katara crossed her arms across her chest.

"The main reason I came here anyway was to tell you that dad's dying!" Sokka yelled, before forcefully closing the door and slamming it shut.

* * *

Before she knew it, before they knew it, it was night time. And Katara sat alone with Aang in the living room sobbing into her hands. She regretted every single word said, yelled, and screamed at the hospital. She was just losing her mind, and sleep deprived.

"I didn't mean it," Katara sobbed, "Any of it. I was just so exhausted."

"I know, sweetie," Aang said, wrapping an arm around his wife's shoulders.

"And I was literally losing my mind," Katara said.

"Wait what?" Aang asked.

"I was just hearing things. I just didn't get any sleep. At all," Katara confessed, "And I probably wont get any tonight either."

"You never know," Aang said, "Hopefully, we'll be able to sleep for at least an hour."

"I just feel so bad," Katara said, "When Sokka came to pick up Bumi and Tenzin he didn't say one word to me!"

"He's obviously still mad at you," Aang said.

"Thanks for pointing out the obvious," Katara said coldly.

"But he'll get over it by tomorrow," Aang said, ignoring her cold tone. Now was not the time for another argument.

"You think so?" Katara asked.

"I know so," Aang said, "You and I both know that Sokka isn't the type of guy to hold grudges."

"I know..." Katara sighed.

There was a pause for a few seconds. Then, Katara just started sobbing again. Aang brought her closer to him and planted a kiss on the top of her head.

"It's just..." Katara said, sniffling and wiping her tears.

"Just what?" Aang asked, keeping his voice low and calm.

"Just... How am I supposed to go to South Pole to visit my dad before-" She paused, and blinked, a tear falling form her cheek once again, "Before anything happens to him, and be there for our daughter?"

"I've been thinking about that lately," Aang said, "And I decided that I'd stay here while you two go visit your dad in the South Pole."

"What?" Katara shrieked, jumping out of Aang's embrace.

"I thought you'd be happy..." Aang said, "That way, if Kya wakes up, at least one of her parents would be there."

"Yeah but you should come to the South Pole too!" Katara argued.

"Then who would be there when she wakes up?" Aang asked.

"I'm so sorry," Katara said, "I'm just trying to figure this all out..."

"You don't have to do this alone," Aang said.

"I know..." Katara said, "It's just so... Complicated."

"We can work this out," Aang said, "And we will."

"Sokka and I are definitely going to the South Pole," Katara said, "It isn't fair if we don't bring the kids. But Kya's in the hospital, and even worse she's in a coma. Bumi and Tenzin are with Sokka."

"Why don't you give your brain a rest, and let's go lie down in the bedroom," Aang said. Whenever Aang mentioned the bedroom his tone would always be seductive. And it was this time, but he didn't mean it to be.

"Aang... I'm not in the mood," Katara sighed.

"No, just to take a nap," Aang said, "Jesus Katara, I'm not in the mood either."

"Okay, I guess a nap wouldn't hurt," Katara said with a shrug.

* * *

Almost the minute after Aang's head hit the pillow he was asleep. But Katara laid on her side awake, with his warm and protective muscular arms wrapped around her. A few more tears managed to escape from her eyes before she fell asleep. And that was when her dream started.

She didn't know what it was at first. She was just staring at a wall, which was white and very bright. It took her a few minutes that the entire room was white and glistening. And suddenly, a figure showed up. A familiar shadow of what looked like her daughter, Kya.

The shadow came closer into her line of site. And suddenly, her daughter was standing in front of her. She looked directly through her mother, as if she didn't see her. Her face was clean, her hair was down, and she was wearing a beautiful white dress. It fit her perfectly. She turned to each side, showing off her beautiful dress. The dress was smoothed until it reached her hips. From the hips down, it was ruffled, but in a perfect way. The perfect way, the way a bride would wear it. And at a certain angle, you could tell that it was not white, but a pale blue so light that it could pass for white. Only at that certain angle could you tell it was a very light shade of blue. And that's when she realized, Kya was wearing her mother's wedding dress. Only, it was a few sizes smaller to fit her body.

Katara didn't notice even notice how her daughter was just staring right through her, as if she was invisible. She was just fascinated at how stunning her daughter looked in her own dress that she wore on her wedding. She smiled at her daughter. And she could almost feel the warmth of her own smile.

Not only was she wearing Katara's dress, but she was wearing the same hair style Katara wore on her wedding day. Bangs, which would usually be her hair loopies, though Kya didn't have hair loopies, but she did have bangs, to the left side of her face. Behind her bangs, on both sides of her head, was a few pieces of her hair clipped together at the back, a clip with a flower attached to it. The rest of her long brown, curly, locks were behind her shoulders.

Suddenly, the room got brighter. And even Kya turned her head to see what it was. It was just a big glowing bright light. Curious what it was, Kya walked towards it. But, Katara knew what it was. It was death.

_Never walk into the light. Don't walk into the light._

Katara screamed as loud as she can, but no one heard her. She couldn't even hear her own scream.

"Kya!" Katara shrieked.

But no one heard her then either. It was almost like this room, or these walls, were sound proof. Kya couldn't even see her mother, which is why she didn't bother to look at her. Katara stepped forward, attempting to save her daughter and stop her from walking into the light. She stepped a little to harshly, and stepped right into a puddle of blood. The blood splattered all over Katara's body. And that's when Katara realized, she was in plain silk white pajamas. Katara screamed, as the puddle of blood got larger. But once again, her scream wasn't heard.

When she tried to jump around the blood, the puddle grew larger, and she ended up stepping into it. But this time, she fell in. And down she went into a pool of blood. The only thing stuck out, was her shoulders, neck and head. She screamed, she cried, but she still was never heard by her daughter or herself.

She froze, her muscles relaxed. And she watched. She watched her daughter slowly walk into the light. But before her daughter entered the light, she realized that the tail of her dress was covered in blood. Kya twisted her neck around, glancing behind her. She stared through Katara again, and that's when Katara realized that she couldn't be seen or heard by her daughter. But when Katara blinked, and looked back at her daughter, Kya had blood dripping from her mouth and eyes. Katara knew she was crying blood. But, she didn't know why blood was coming out of her mouth.

She walked closer to the light, and behind her was a trail of blood from the tail of her mother's dress. Katara cried out as she sank deeper into the pool of blood. Her shoulders and neck now were below the surface of the pool of blood. She kicked her legs and flailed her arms, trying to get her shoulders and neck to rise back above the surface. But the more she kicked and flailed, the further her body sank. Her mouth went under, followed by her nose. But Katara's eyes stayed above the surface, and she just had enough time to watch her daughter disappear as she walked into the light. Right before she fully went under.

She sank further and further, but she was glad because the blood turned into pure water. And through the pure crystal clear water, she saw Kya standing there again. Though, she looked dead. Her eyes were shut, her back was slightly hunched over, and blood leaked from her nose.

"Kya!" Katara tried to scream again, but she only swallowed what felt like gallons of water. And then she was coughing, and clasping her hands to her chest, trying to breathe. She didn't even think to bend the water out of her mouth. And as she was coughing, more water filled her lungs. And as more water filled her lungs, she felt her body get heavier and weaker.

Katara jumped awake, and sat up immediately. She was covered in a layer of sweat, and had dried tear marks down her cheeks.

"Katara!" Aang gasped, "What happened? You were panting like crazy, and you kept crying, coughing, and moving around!"

Instead of answering him using words, she answered him by throwing herself into his arms, and crying into his chest.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?" Aang asked, as he caressed her face with his index finger, he realized how much she was sweating.

"Katara?" Aang asked. "You're covered in sweat! What went on in your dream."

She pulled herself out of Aang's embrace, and wiped away her tears.

"I watched Kya die," Katara said, her voice still shaky, "And I woke up right before I was going to die."

She threw herself into his embrace, and sobbed harder, "It was so terrifying! And it was so... real!"

"It's okay, sweetie," Aang said soothingly, as he ran his fingers through her long, dark curly locks of hair, "It was only just a dream."

"It was a nightmare!" Katara cried.

"It's over now," Aang said, "You're fine. And Kya's fine."

"What if she's not?" Katara asked.

The four words stuck in his head. _What if she's not? _She could be right. How would they know? What if something happened to her, and they weren't there at her side like they should have been. They'd been asleep for the past two hours, and anything could have happened.

* * *

**To be continued...**


End file.
